Discuss the aims & objectives of NITI Aayog. To what extent, it is different from the erstwhile Planning Commission?

Aims and Objectives of Niti Ayog

• NITI Aayog is essentially an advisory body that seeks to provide critical directional and strategic inputs across spectrum of key elements of policy to the centre as well as states.
• Strong states make a strong nation, is the core idea; and the Ayog will foster cooperative federalism by evolving a shared vision of national development priorities.
• It has been envisaged to follow the bottom-top development approach whereby, it would develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans to the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government.
• It would create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system via a community of national and international experts, practitioners and partners.
• It will also monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes, and focus on technology upgradation and capacity building.

NITI Aayog & Planning Commission: Comparison

• The key difference between them is that while the planning commission had powers to allocate funds to ministries and states; this function is not vested in hands of NITI Aayog.
• The role of states in the planning commission era was limited.Since Niti Ayog has all chief ministers of states and administrators of UT in its Governing Council, it is obvious that states are expected to have greater role and say in planning/ implementation of policies.
• The top down approach in planning commission has been reversed to bottom-top in Niti Ayog.
• While the planning commission formed Central Plans, Niti Ayog will not formulate them anymore. It has been vested with the responsibility of evaluating the implementation of programmes.

Topics: GS-III: Indian Economy Issues Relating to Planning