National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) | Famous Books for UPSC Exam (Summary & Tests) PDF Download

Introduction
The Planning Commission which has a legacy of 65 years has been replaced by the NITI Aayog. The utility and significance of the Planning Commission had been questioned for long. The replacement seems to be more relevant and responsive to the present economic needs and scenario in the country.
The NITI Aayog is a very important topic for the UPSC civil services exam. It is a pivotal organisation that is bound to play a vital role in the country’s development process. Hence, you should read about the NITI Aayog in detail as questions can be asked on it both in the UPSC prelims and mains exams.

NITI Aayog Evolution
The NITI Aayog was formed on January 1, 2015. In Sanskrit, the word “NITI” means morality, behavior, guidance, etc. But, in the present context, it means policy and the NITI stands for “National Institution for Transforming India”. It is the country’s premier policy-making institution that is expected to bolster the economic growth of the country. It aims to construct a strong state that will help to create a dynamic and strong nation. This helps India to emerge as a major economy in the world. The NITI Aayog’s creation has two hubs called “Team India Hub” and “Knowledge and Innovation Hub”. 

• Team India: It leads to the participation of Indian states with the central government. 
• The Knowledge and Innovation Hub: it builds the institution’s think tank capabilities. 

NITI Aayog is additionally creating itself as a State of the Art Resource Center, with the essential resources, knowledge, and skills that will empower it to act with speed, advance research and innovation, bestow crucial policy vision to the government, and manage unforeseen issues. The reason for setting up the NITI Aayog is that people had expectations for growth and development in the administration through their participation. This required institutional changes in administration and active strategy shifts that could seed and foster substantial scale change.

Objectives of NITI Aayog

• The active participation of States in the light of national objectives and to provide a framework ‘national agenda’. 
• To promote cooperative federalism through well-ordered support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on an uninterrupted basis. 
• To construct methods to formulate a reliable strategy at the village level and aggregate these gradually at higher levels of government. 
• An economic policy that incorporates national security interests. 
• To pay special consideration to the sections of the society that may be at risk of not profiting satisfactorily from economic progress. 
• To propose strategic and long-term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and review their progress and their effectiveness. 
• To grant advice and encourage partnerships between important stakeholders and national-international Think Tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions. 
• To generate knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurial support system through a shared community of national and international experts, etc. 
• To provide a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues to speed up the accomplishment of the progressive agenda. 
• To preserve a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their distribution to participants. 
• To effectively screen and assess the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources to strengthen the likelihood of success. 
• To pay attention to technology improvement and capacity building for the discharge of programs and initiatives. 
• To undertake other necessary activities to the implementation of the national development agenda, and the objectives.

7 pillars of effective governance envisaged by NITI Aayog
The NITI Aayog is based on the 7 pillars of effective Governance. 
They are:

• Pro-people: It fulfills the aspirations of society as well as individuals 
• Pro-activity: In anticipation of and response to citizen needs 
• Participation: Involvement of the citizenry 
• Empowering: Empowering, especially women in all aspects 
• Inclusion of all: Inclusion of all people irrespective of caste, creed, and gender 
• Equality: Providing equal opportunity to all especially for youth 
• Transparency: Making the government visible and responsive

NITI Aayog Composition
The NITI Aayog will comprise the following:

• Prime Minister of India is the Chairperson 
• Governing Council consists of the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in India. 
• Regional Councils will be created to address particular issues and possibilities affecting more than one state. These will be formed for a fixed term. It will be summoned by the Prime Minister. It will consist of the Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories. These will be chaired by the Chairperson of the NITI Aayog or his nominee. 
• Special invitees: Eminent experts, specialists with relevant domain knowledge, which will be nominated by the Prime Minister. 
• The full-time organizational framework will include, in addition to the Prime Minister as the Chairperson:
  (i) Vice-Chairperson (appointed by the Prime Minister)
  (ii) Members:
  (a) Full-time
  (b) Part-time members: Maximum of 2 members from foremost universities, leading research organizations, and other innovative organizations in an ex-officio capacity. Part-time members will be on a rotational basis.
  (iii) Ex Officio members: Maximum of 4 members of the Council of Ministers which is to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
  (iv) Chief Executive Officer: CEO will be appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure. He will be in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman
Dr. Rajiv Kumar (September 2017 – present) is the current Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog. 


NITI Aayog – Latest Information 
1. The NITI Aayog has framed a model Act on conclusive land titles that it hopes will be adopted and implemented by states. The aim is to facilitate easy access of credit to farmers and reduce a large number of land-related litigations, besides enabling transparent real estate transactions and land acquisition for infrastructure developments.
2. Recently the NITI Aayog vice chairman had mentioned that the Government will introduce the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for more sectors to boost domestic manufacturing. The objective of the PLI scheme is to incentivise investors in this country to put up globally comparable capacity in scale and competitiveness. The Government of India has already introduced the PLI scheme for pharmaceutical, medical devices, mobile phones and electronic manufacturing companies. It is now considering extending the scheme to other sectors as well.