NITI Aayog to Undertake Midterm Appraisal of Ongoing Five Year Plan

In the first meeting of the Governing Council of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, which was held on February 8, 2015, it was decided that the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) would continue. NITI Aayog would suitably undertake its Mid Term Appraisal so that a shared vision of national development agenda and important national initiatives are incorporated for their effective implementation in the remaining two years of the Plan. This information was given by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning, Shri Rao Inderjit Singh in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today. The Minister said that the Resolution, setting up NITI Aayog provides for a suitable Secretariat of the NITI Aayog for providing assistance in discharging the functions entrusted to it. The Secretariat of NITI Aayog is in the process of being set up. During this transition period, NITI Aayog has been declared by the Government as successor in Interest of the erstwhile Planning Commission. As per government order, the officers and employees holding office under the erstwhile Planning Commission immediately before the date of constitution of the NITI Aayog shall continue to hold office in NITI Aayog by the same tenure and upon the same terms and conditions of service; and continue as such until further orders. He said that India has undergone a paradigm shift over the past six decades. The role of the State as well as the state of the Economy has changed dramatically over the last few decades. India is now an emerging economy in an increasingly integrated globalized world. The State has now moved away from allocating government resources in a command and control ecosystem to a more complex role – that of mediating through policy action, favourable conditions for private investment, providing public goods and essential services and most importantly, directly intervening in areas that are traditionally neglected by markets i.e. social security and essential entitlements of food, health, nutrition, education and livelihoods to the vulnerable and marginalized groups. The Minister said that in its 35th Report, on Demand for Grants (2011-12) the Standing Committee on Finance of the 15th Lok Sabha had observed that “The Committee are of the view that while planning is very much relevant in India, the Planning Commission has to come to grips with the emerging social realities to reinvent itself to make itself more relevant and effective for aligning the planning process with economic reforms and its consequences, particularly for the poor”.Keeping with these changing times, the Government of India has decided to set up NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) with special emphasis on strengthening cooperative federalism in India so that Centre and State, as a team can work for ensuring rapid economic transformation of India.