NITI Aayog shows how practical Modi is

The government of India has finally announced the constitution of a new body replacing the Planning Commission - NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India). In the statement, the government announced that in order to reap the benefits of the creative energy across the country emerging from states, regions and other localities the development model has to become more consensual and cooperative. A shared vision of promoting growth and development with active involvement of states should be based on human dignity, national self-respect, inclusive approach, equal opportunity to youth, transparency in government's activities, and a sustainable development path. NITI Aayog is a specific institution with a focused approach to giving life to these aspirations.

With the key objectives of the Aayog aimed at providing a framework 'national agenda' for the prime minister and the chief ministers that will foster cooperative federalism; the Aayog will be an incubator of ideas with a bottom-up approach to planning and national security interests while paying special attention to weaker sections of the society; and creating knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system. It will also provide a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues which in turn will aid in accelerating the implementation of the development agenda.

NITI Aayog will be chaired by the PM while the Governing Council will comprise chief ministers of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories. In this way, experts, specialists and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge will also get an opportunity to contribute to nation building.

Historically, Planning Commission was never a constitutional body. In fact, it was set up in 1950 by a cabinet order and it sometimes mirrored the functions and activities of government ministries, particularly the ministry of finance. Consequently, conflicts in policy making emerged and decision making was delayed. In fact, after the 73rd Amendment, 1992 (commonly referred to as the Panchayati Raj Act) came into effect on April 24, 1993; and the 74th Amendment, 1992 (the Nagarpalika Act) became effective on June 1, 1993 - the role of the Planning Commission as a relevant policy-making body was technically over. The two amendments clearly demonstrated the political resolve to adopt a bottom-up approach, to planning - a sharp contrast to the top-down approach followed by the Planning Commission. Logically speaking, the Planning Commission should have wound up then itself . Nevertheless, it continued to function but was constantly marred by controversies which including when it tried to redefine the poverty line, decide on amount of developmental grants, and its status vis-a-vis other statutory bodies such as the Finance Commission.

The recent initiative of the NITI Aayog taken by the prime minister goes out to show that he is a strategic thinker who has once again demonstrated that he has a practical approach to solving India's problems. Rather than having layers of institutions - some conflicting and others competing--the constitution and composition of NITI Aayog clearly indicates his collective and egalitarian approach to growth and development. In line with the rapidly changing environment both at the global and domestic level, the governments also need to modernise to serve the citizens more effectively. While the NITI Aayog will prepare strategic plans after collating wisdom from both domestic as well as international sources, the intervention of the Governing Council will ensure that the central and state governments are also involved with the implementation of the same, in case proposals for development are collectively accepted.

Strategic thinking should be distinct from policy making, implementation, and its evaluation - assigned to different departments under the same minister by assigning accountability and responsibility to the Ministry. The institution of NITI Aayog successfully achieves this objective. Also, most importantly, hopefully, the birth of NITI Aayog and the cremation of Planning Commission will revive the spirit of the 73rd and 74th amendments and strengthen Panchayati raj institutions in the truest sense of the Gandhian tradition.