Language
Country/Area
No result found
How NITI Aayog revolutionized India’s economic policy?
NITI Aayog, which means "National Transformation Institute", has become the Indian government's top public policy think tank since its establishment in 2015. Its purpose is to promote economic development, promote cooperative federalism, and attempt to break away from the previous policy model based on "consultative federalism". NITI Aayog's strategy is to adopt a bottom-up approach and actively involve state governments in policy making. Behind this change lies profound thinking about the future of India's economy.
Under the advocacy of NITI Aayog, India has begun to implement a series of innovative initiatives, including a "15-Year Roadmap" and a "7-Year Vision, Strategy and Action Plan", focusing on areas such as urban development, digitalization and education reform. These plans go beyond economic growth; they seek to create greater policy synergies across sectors to boost overall development.
“The 65-year-old planning commission has become redundant and India is a diverse country with states at different stages of economic development.”
The background and history of the establishment of NITI Aayog cannot be ignored. In 2014, the Independent Evaluation Office submitted a report to then Prime Minister Narendra Modi recommending the replacement of the Planning Commission. With a new understanding of economic planning, NITI Aayog was formally established in January 2015 and quickly began to lead India's economic policy transformation.
The meeting of NITI Aayog comprises chief ministers of states, deputy ministers of the central government and experts from renowned academic institutions. This diversified structure means that policy making no longer relies solely on the decisions of the central government, but instead emphasizes the importance and necessity of local governments in economic policies.
“The goal is rapid transformation, not slow evolution.” — A statement from a senior government official clearly demonstrates NITI Aayog’s determination.
One of the core initiatives of NITI Aayog is Digital India and Smart Agriculture related policies. Behind these policies, advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and big data are integrated, which may significantly enhance the country's competitiveness in the future. In addition, their regional statistics manual also provides necessary data support for the economic development of each state.
NITI Aayog has also initiated a variety of innovative programs, such as the Student Entrepreneurship Program and the Behavioral Insights Unit, and collaborated with prestigious universities and research institutions to improve the effectiveness of public policy design and implementation.
“The Behavioural Insights Unit (BIU) is the leading organisation to use behavioural science to improve policy outcomes.”
In addition, NITI Aayog is also actively promoting an innovation culture in the country, an example of which is the Student Entrepreneurship Programme (SEP) launched in 2019. These programs promote the practical skills of young entrepreneurs and further promote the development of original thinking through cooperation with enterprises.
NITI Aayog has also incorporated technology into education and promoted several free technology-driven learning programs aimed at improving learning outcomes for students from grassroots levels. This not only creates added value in the field of education but also helps in promoting overall development of the society.
“Our goal is to take India to a whole new level through innovation and technology.”
NITI Aayog’s contribution lies in the comprehensive policies and short-term action plans it continuously promotes, covering agriculture, markets, health, education and digitalization. These broke the previous top-down decision-making model, achieved real local participation, and created good policy coordination across the country.
Although NITI Aayog has made a lot of progress in advancing policies, it still faces various challenges, such as how to better balance local interests with national development and how to address social inequality. These questions also prompt us to think again: How should India's economic policies move forward steadily in a rapidly changing global environment?
