NITI stands for “National Institution for Transforming India”. The other name of NITI Aayog is the planning commission of India, later after 65 years, it was replaced by the NITI Aayog. The significance and utility of the planning commission have been questioned for a longer period of time. NITI is the most important and responsive to the current economic needs and conditions in the country.
NITI is the most important UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam conducted to recruit civil servants. It is an essential organization that plays an important role in the development of the country. Narendra Modi is the chairman and Dr. Rajiv Kumar is the present vice-chairman of NITI Aayog.
It was formed on 1st January 2015. NITI was taken from Sanskrit which means morality, behavior, and guidance. It is the country’s premium policy-making industry expected to increase the country's economic growth. The main aim of this is to make a strong state which helps to create a strong and dynamic nation. This makes India a major economic country in the world. The NITI Aayog consists of two hubs namely “Team India Hub” and “Knowledge and Innovation Hub”. Team India Hub involves the participation of Indian states with the central government and the Knowledge and Innovation Hub is responsible for building the institution's think tank capabilities. The main reason for setting up the NITI Aayog is that people had expectations for growth and development in the administration through their participation. The official website of NITI Aayog is “niti.gov.in”. This website gives complete information about the NITI Aayog, its objectives, policies, and many others.
The main objectives of NITI Aayog are:
To evolve a shared version of priorities based on national development and plans which involves the active involvement of states regarding the national objectives.
To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the rural level.
To give special attention to the sections that are at risk.
To design long-term policy, program frameworks, and initiatives and monitor their program and efficiency.
An economic policy that incorporates national security interests.
To grant advice and encourage partnerships between important stakeholders and policy research institutions.
To pay attention to the improvement of technology and capacity building for the discharge of programs and initiatives.
To conduct necessary activities for the implementation of the national development agenda and other related activities.
To generate knowledge, innovation, and research systems through a shared community of national and international exports.
To effectively monitor and assess the implementation of programs and activities.
The NITI Aayog will comprise of following members:
1) Prime minister-Chairperson of NITI Aayog
2) Governing Council-It consists of all the state's Chief Ministers and governors of all the Union Territories.
3) Regional Councils-This is created to address the issues and possibilities affecting more than one state.
4) Special invitees-These are the experts with certain domain knowledge and are nominated by the Prime Minister.
5) The organization framework includes
Vice-chairperson
Ex Officio members
Chief Executive Officer
Part-time and full-time members
The latest achievements of NITI Aayog are:
Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agriculture Policies (MAFAP) program- It is a combined project between the NITI Aayog and the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO) of the United Nations.
The NITI Aayog governing council promoted Zero Budget Natural Farming.
A village storage scheme has been introduced.
The documents published by the NITI Aayog are listed below:
Fifteen-year vision
Seven-year strategy
Three-Year Action Agenda
It is a document from the period of 2017-18 to 2019-2020. This document is published to recommend policy changes and programs for action during this period. This has been prepared as part of the comprehensive document which includes the structure of the policy changes. This offers proposals for policy changes within a shorter time.
NITI Aayog is considered an executive body. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the NITI Aayog in the year 2014 which replaced the planning commission. It is not considered a constitutional body or a statutory body.
NITI Aayog was formed to develop itself as a state-of-art resource with required skills that enable efficient, modern, and innovative systems which provide strategic policy vision for the government.