Why in news?

The Centre has reconstituted the NITI Aayog with 15 union ministers, including those from NDA allies and four full-time members, being a part of the government think-tank. The government reconstituted NITI Aayog after changes were made in the council of ministers.

What’s in today’s article?

• National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog
• Reconstitution of NITI Aayog

National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog

• About:
  • NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1 January 2015. It was constituted to replace the Planning Commission - instituted in 1950.
  • It is the premier policy think tank of the Government of India, providing directional and policy inputs.
  • NITI Aayog acts as a platform to bring the States to act together in national interest and thereby fosters cooperative federalism.
• Composition
  • Chairperson: The Prime Minister of India
  • Full time organisational framework:
    • Vice Chairperson: Appointed by the PM, s/he enjoys the rank of a Cabinet Minister.
    • Full-Time Members: Enjoys the rank of a Minister of State.
    • Part-Time Members: Maximum 2.
    • Ex-Officio Members: Maximum of 4 members of the Union Council of Minister to be nominated by the PM.
  • Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Appointed by the PM for a fixed tenure, s/he enjoys the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
  • Special Invitees: These will be experts with relevant domain knowledge to be nominated by the PM.
• Governing Council of NITI Aayog:
  • The council is the premier body tasked with evolving a shared vision of national priorities and strategies, with the active involvement of States.
  • It presents a platform to discuss inter-sectoral, inter-departmental and federal issues to accelerate the implementation of the national development agenda.
  • Composition of Governing Council:
    • It is chaired by the PM and comprises Chief Ministers of all the States and UTs with legislatures and Lt Governors of other Union Territories.
    • The council also comprises of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog; Full-Time Members, NITI Aayog; and Special Invitees.

Performance of NITI:

• As an action Tank: By collecting fresh and new ideas and sharing them with the government at the Central and State level, it ensures that there is no inactivity in any organisation or institution.
• Improving innovation: A commendable work has been done by the Atal Innovation Mission (established under NITI Aayog), which has helped in improving the innovation ecosystem in India.
• Bringing greater responsibility in the system: Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) has been established by the NITI Aayog, which collects performance data of various Ministries on a real-time basis.
  • These data are then used at the highest policy-making levels to improve performance and establish accountability.
• Some important initiatives of NITI Aayog: Some of the initiatives like Ayushman Bharat, water conservation measures, approach towards artificial intelligence, have been conceptualised in NITI Aayog and respective Ministries are taking them forward.
  • POSHAAN ABHIYAAN by NITI Aayog is cutting across the silos within the government and helping in reducing malnourished children in India.

NITI Aayog: Promoting Federalism

• Cooperative Federalism
  • NITI has provided a platform for direct issue-based interaction between States and Central Ministries thereby helping quick resolution of outstanding issues.
  • The NITI Forum for North East has been constituted and tangible sectoral proposals are being implemented by the States in partnership with the North East council.
  • NITI has designed some major initiatives for island development which are being implemented under the overall guidance of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • It is also envisaged that like the NITI Forum for the North East, other regional councils of contiguous States could be formed.
    • The first step has been taken by forming the Himalayan States Regional Council and forming a coalition of all thirteen central universities in these states.
• Competitive Federalism
  • It promotes competitive federalism principally through pushing its sectoral indices which are put out in the public domain.
    • The indices on water, education, health, innovation, export preparedness, and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have attracted significant positive attention.
  • It has also introduced a competition element in ‘Aspirational Districts Program’ by focusing on governance improvement on the ground.
    • These districts have shown significant improvement in indicators pertaining to health and nutrition, education etc.
  • Besides, several best practices in governance have emerged from these districts which are now being scaled up and replicated at the block level in some states.

Reconstitution of NITI Aayog

• About
  • The government reconstituted the NITI Aayog, expanding the number of special invitees from five to eleven.
  • This new group of special invitees includes five ministers from the BJP's allied parties.
• Key post holders
  • Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains the Chairperson and economist Suman K Bery will continue to be the Vice Chairperson of NITI Aayog.
  • Scientist V K Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, paediatrician V K Paul and macro-economist Arvind Virmani will also continue to be full-time members of the government think-tank.
  • BVR Subrahmanyam will also remain the CEO.
  • The four ex-officio members will be:
    • Union Ministers Rajnath Singh (Defence), Amit Shah (Home), Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture) and Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance).