Rationale: INSTITUTIONS MUST CHANGE - FROM PLANNING TO NITI TRANSFORMING INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT AGENDA

Rationale: INSTITUTIONS MUST CHANGE :

This changing reality and growing mismatch has been recognized for years now; with experts, including many from within the erstwhile Planning Commission, recommending appropriate changes:

The 8th Five Year Plan document - the very first after the liberalisation of 1991 - itself categorically stated that, as the role of Government was reviewed and restructured, the role and functions of the Planning commission too needed to be rethought. The Planning Commission needed to be reformed to keep up with changing trends; letting go of old practices and beliefs whose relevance had been lost, and adopting new ones based on the past experiences of India as well as other nations. 

The Standing Committee on Finance of the 15th Lok Sabha observed in its 35th Report on Demand for Grants (2011-12) that the Planning Commission "has to come to grips with the emerging social realities to re-invent itself to make itself more relevant and effective for aligning the planning process with economic reforms and its consequences, particularly for the poor".

Former Prime Minister and noted economist, Dr. Manmohan Singh - in his farewell address to the Commission in April 2014 - also urged reflection on "what the role of the Planning Commission needs to be in this new world. Are we still using tools and approaches which were designed for a different era? What additional roles should the Planning Commission play and what capacities does it need to build to ensure that it continues to be relevant to the growth process?" 8Mahatma Gandhi had said: "Constant development is the law of life, and a man who always tries to maintain his dogmas in order to appear consistent drives himself into a false position". Keeping true to this principle our institutions of governance and policy must evolve with the changing dynamics of the new India, while remaining true to the founding principles of the Constitution of India, and rooted in our Bharatiyata or wisdom of our civilizational history and ethos.

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) is to be the institution to give life to these aspirations. It is being formed based on extensive consultation across the spectrum of stakeholders,  including inter alia state governments, relevant institutions, domain experts and the people at large.