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NITI-gritty will take time to take off

Replacement to five-year plan awaiting CMs’ inputs; 15-yr vision document, 7-yr strategy in progress

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PM Narendra Modi chairs the 3rd Governing Council Meet of the NITI Aayog on Sunday
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The government’s three-year action agenda, a replacement of the Nehruvian-era five-year plan — pegged as the next replacement to the decades-old five-year plans — may take time to come into effect.

On Sunday, the draft of the agenda was circulated to all states at the third meeting of NITI Aayog’s governing council meeting at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for their inputs.

NITI Aayog’s 15-year vision document and the seven-year medium-term strategy is in progress and will complement the action agenda in the government’s planning road map till 2032. They were also discussed at the meet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by several non-BJP state CMs such as Punjab’s Captain Amarinder Singh, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, Tripura’s Manik Sarkar and Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah. On Monday, a meeting with the Union Territories is in the offing.

The last Nehruvian-era five-year plan had concluded on March 31, 2017. “The draft is ready and has been circulated to the CMs for final inputs,” Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, told media persons after the meet. He added that the seven-part action agenda has not set specific targets but has detailed action points on expenditure allocation, transformation of major sectors like agriculture, industry services, regional development, governance and policies, social sectors and sustainability.

Panagariya said that the period of the action agenda coincided with the period of the award of the 14th Finance Commission. “This gave stability to the funding estimates of both Centre and states,” he said.

Panagariya mentioned that the PM also spoke about deliberating on holding Union and state elections simultaneously and changing the financial year from January to December with the states. He also said that he predicts the GDP to grow by 8 per cent till 2031-32, from  Rs 137 lakh crore in 2015-16 to Rs 469 lakh crore by 2031-32 at 2015-16 prices.  

The vision of a New India can only be realised through the combined effort and cooperation of all states and Chief Ministers, said PM Modi.

Team India has assembled here to discuss and reflect on ways to prepare the country for changing global trends, Modi said. It is the collective responsibility of this gathering to envision the India of 2022—the 75th anniversary of Independence—and see how the nation can swiftly move forward to achieve these goals, he added.

Modi asked the government, private sector and civil society to work in sync to promote development.

Talking about Goods and Services Tax (GST), Modi said that the consensus on the new indirect tax regime will go down in history as a great illustration of cooperative federalism.

“GST reflects the spirit of ‘One nation, One aspiration, One determination’,” he said.

Modi said that while there has been a 40 per cent increase in overall fund allocation to states between 2014-15 and 2016-17, the percentage of funds tied to central schemes has declined from 40 per cent to 25 per cent.

Speaking to the chief ministers of the North-East, Modi hailed the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), a decadal policy launched by the UPA government, which was suspended by the NDA government in 2014. It was resumed by the NDA government in April this year.

Modi said that the strengthened road map under the policy will play a key role in bringing about an industrial development in the region. In particular, he lauded the Assam government’s initiatives to promote the telecom sector in rural areas. He also praised the Assam government for mounting a concerted effort to promote Digital India in areas without much internet cover.

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant outlined the initiatives taken in areas like agriculture, poverty elimination, health, education, digital payments, disinvestment, coastal zone, and island development and said the government think tank will continue working with the states to improve basic services and infrastructure, especially in districts and regions which require specific attention.

THE ROAD MAP

  1. Indian economy will see an over three-fold expansion at $7.25 trillion by 2030 and clock an average growth rate of 8% in 15 years.
     
  2. NITI working on a platform for sharing best practices to strengthen the learning ecosystem.
     
  3. NITI will work with states to improve basic services and infrastructure, in districts and regions which require specific attention.
     
  4. States should make legislative arrangements without delay for Goods and Services Tax rollout from July 1.
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