National Institution for Transforming India.
Cons of PC: Non-constitutional,non-statutory body,Domination of Prime Minister, bypassing the cabinet,it overshadowed the role of Finance Commission, there was no direct accountability.
Do we still need planning then?Sustainable development; balanced regional development.
This new economic think-tank, manned by domain experts, has been constituted to provide strategic and technical advice to the Centre and the State governments on key policy matters. The Planning Commission also did this but allegedly in a heavily centralised, big-brother way suited to a command economy. It hopes to replace the one way Centre-to-State flow of policy with ‘cooperative federalism’ making development a process based on partnership of states. Importantly, unlike the Planning Commission, the NITI Aayog does not have the power of allocating central funds to States. This will now be done by the finance ministry.After the scrapping of PC, the role of formulating annual plans and fund allocation is being currently undertaken by the Finance Ministry.The governing council of the NITI Aayog has on board the chief ministers of all the States and lieutenant governors of the Union Territories. This council, in its first meeting, decided to undertake a review of centrally sponsored schemes — whether they should be continued, transferred to States or scrapped.It will also develop mechanisms for village-level plans.
Structure of NITI Aayog-Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson,Governing Council,Regional Councils,Experts,Vice-Chairperson(Arvind Panagariya): To be appointed by the Prime Minister.
Cons of NITI: Lack of clarity regarding the ongoing plans and the fate of Centrally Sponsored Schemes,After getting fiscal discretion,states may not spend on social sector.Some of the newly formed states who at this moment might not be financially viable and are dependent on the Union govt. for guidance and monitoring.The opposition parties has labelled it as a mere "name-change" exercise!
Planning Commission was seen as a vestige of the socialist era.The new body, conceived more in the nature of a think-tank will provide strategic and technical advice.The NITI Aayog seeks substitute centralised planning with a ‘bottom-up’ approach where the body will support formulation of plans at the village level and aggregate them at higher levels of government. In short, the new body is envisaged to follow the norm of cooperative federalism, giving room to States to tailor schemes to suit their unique needs rather than be dictated to by the Centre. This is meant to be a recognition of the country’s diversity. The needs of a State such as Kerala with its highly developed social indicators may not be the same as that of, say, Jharkhand, which scores relatively low on this count.
Under the NITI Aayog, the Govt. plans to adopt a ‘Bharatiya’ approach to development.The maturing of our institutions and polity also entails a diminished role for centralised planning, which itself needed to be redefined. NITI Aayog would comprise of Governing Council and regional councils in place of the NDC of the Planning Commission. States do not want to be mere appendages of the Centre… They seek a decisive say in determining the architecture of economic growth and development.India no longer seeks the alleviation of poverty, states the resolution, but rather its elimination. Non-Resident Indian community spread across more than 200 countries is a significant geo-economic and geo-political strength. “Future national policies must incorporate this strength in order to broaden their participation in the new India beyond just their financial support.”Policy-making must focus on providing necessary support to the more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation, in terms of skill and knowledge upgrades and access to financial capital and relevant technology.
Planning Commission was seen as a vestige of the socialist era.The new body, conceived more in the nature of a think-tank will provide strategic and technical advice.The NITI Aayog seeks substitute centralised planning with a ‘bottom-up’ approach where the body will support formulation of plans at the village level and aggregate them at higher levels of government. In short, the new body is envisaged to follow the norm of cooperative federalism, giving room to States to tailor schemes to suit their unique needs rather than be dictated to by the Centre. This is meant to be a recognition of the country’s diversity. The needs of a State such as Kerala with its highly developed social indicators may not be the same as that of, say, Jharkhand, which scores relatively low on this count.
Under the NITI Aayog, the Govt. plans to adopt a ‘Bharatiya’ approach to development.The maturing of our institutions and polity also entails a diminished role for centralised planning, which itself needed to be redefined. NITI Aayog would comprise of Governing Council and regional councils in place of the NDC of the Planning Commission. States do not want to be mere appendages of the Centre… They seek a decisive say in determining the architecture of economic growth and development.India no longer seeks the alleviation of poverty, states the resolution, but rather its elimination. Non-Resident Indian community spread across more than 200 countries is a significant geo-economic and geo-political strength. “Future national policies must incorporate this strength in order to broaden their participation in the new India beyond just their financial support.”Policy-making must focus on providing necessary support to the more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation, in terms of skill and knowledge upgrades and access to financial capital and relevant technology.
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