All You Need To Know About NITI Aayog (2023 Updated)

Last Updated: 25 March 2023

The NITI Aayog or National Institution for Transforming India serves as the apex public policy Think Tank of the Government of India and the nodal agency tasked with catalyzing Economic Development and Fostering Cooperative Federalism through the involvement of State Governments of India in the economic policy-making process using a bottom-up approach.

NITI Aayog was established in 2015, by the NDA Government, to replace the Planning Commission which followed a top-down model. The NITI Aayog council comprises all the state Chief Ministers, along with the Chief Ministers of Delhi & Puducherry, Lieutenant Governors of all UTs, and a Vice-chairman nominated by the Prime Minister.

In addition, Temporary Members are selected from leading Universities & Research Institutions. These members include a Chief Executive Officer, Four Ex-Official Members, and two Part-Time Members.

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NITI Aayog At A Glance

No.	Header	Information
1	NITI	National Institution for Transforming India
2	Formed	1^st January 2015
3	Preceding Government Agency	Planning Commission
4	Jurisdiction	Government of India
5	Headquarters	New Delhi
6	Annual Budget	₹339.65 crores ($48+ million) (2020–21)
7	Government Agency	Narendra Modi (Chairperson)
8	Executives	Vice Chairperson: Suman Bery CEO: B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
9	Parent Government Agency	Ministry of Planning
10	Website	www.niti.gov.in

Introduction On Planning Commission

After India achieved independence a formal model of planning was adopted and accordingly the Planning Commission, reporting directly to the Prime Minister of India, was established on 15^th March 1950, with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the Chairman.

Authority for the creation of the Planning Commission was not derived from the Constitution of India or statute; it is an arm of the Central Government of India. The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India, which formulated India’s Five-Year Plans, among other functions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his first Independence Day speech in 2014 announced his intention to dissolve the Planning Commission. It has since been replaced by a new institution named NITI Aayog.

No.	Header	Information
1	Formed	15^th March 1950
2	Dissolved	13^th Aug 2014
3	Superseding Agency	NITI Aayog
4	Headquarters	Yojana Bhavan, New Delhi
5	Agency Executive	Prime Minister of India
6	Parent Agency	Government of India
7	Website	planningcommission.gov.in

Deputy Chairman Of The Planning Commission

No.	Deputy Chairman	Term In	Term Out
1	Gulzarilal Nanda	17 Feb 1953	21 Sep 1963
2	V. T. Krishnamachari	17 Feb 1953	21 Jun 1960
3	Chandulal Madhavlal Trivedi	22 Sep 1963	02 Dec 1963
4	Dhananjay Ramchandra Gadgil	02 Sep 1967	01 May 1971
8	P. N. Haksar	04 Jan 1975	31 May 1977
9	D. T. Lakdawala	01 Jun 1977	15 Feb 1980
10	N. D. Tiwari	09 Jun 1980	08 Aug 1981
11	Shankarrao Chavan	09 Aug 1981	19 Jul 1984
12	Prakash Chandra Sethi	20 Jul 1984	31 Oct 1984
13	P. V. Narasimha Rao	01 Nov 1984	14 Jan 1985
14	Manmohan Singh	15 Jan 1985	31 Aug 1987
15	P. Shiv Shankar	25 Jul 1987	29 Jun 1988
16	Madhav Singh Solanki	30 Jun 1988	16 Aug 1989
17	Ramakrishna Hegde	05 Dec 1989	06 Jul 1990
18	Madhu Dandavate	07 Jul 1990	10 Dec 1990
19	Mohan Dharia	11 Dec 1990	24 Jun 1991
20	Pranab Mukherjee	24 Jun 1991	15 May 1996
	Madhu Dandavate^[18]	01 Aug 1996	21 Mar 1998
21	Jaswant Singh	25 Mar 1998	04 Feb 1999
22	K. C. Pant	05 Feb 1999	17 Jun 2004
23	Montek Singh Ahluwalia	06 Jul 2004	26 May 2014

Initiatives Of NITI Aayog

15-Year Road Map
7-Year Vision, Strategy, & Action Plan

AMRUT
Agriculture Reforms
Atal Innovation Mission

Digital India
Education & Water Management
Indices Measuring States’ Performance in Health

Medical Education Reform
Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Rationalization of Centrally Sponsored Schemes
Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Skill Development

Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
Task Forces on Agriculture and up of Poverty
Transforming India Lecture Series.

History Of NITI Aayog

On 29^th May 2014, the Independent Evaluation Office submitted an assessment report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the recommendation to replace the Planning Commission with a “Control Commission”.

On 13^th August 2014, the Union Cabinet scrapped the Planning Commission (India), to be replaced with a diluted version of the National Advisory Council (NAC) of India which was established by the UPA government.

On 1^st January 2015, a Cabinet resolution was passed to replace the Planning Commission with the newly formed NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India).

The Union Government of India announced the formation of NITI Aayog on 1^st January 2015.

The first meeting of the NITI Aayog was chaired by Narendra Modi on 8^th February 2015.

Members Of NITI Aayog

A Governing Council composed of Chief Ministers of all the States & Union Territories with Legislatures and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories (except Delhi & Puducherry).

Regional Councils composed of Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region to address specific issues and contingencies impacting more than one state or region.

Full-time organizational framework composed:
- Vice-Chairperson
- Four Full-Time Members
- Two Part-Time Members (from leading Universities, Research Organizations, and other relevant Institutions in an Ex-officio capacity)
- Four Ex-Officio Members of the Union Council of Ministers
- Chief Executive Officer (with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India) who look after the administration.
- Secretariat.

Experts and specialists in various fields.

Rao Inderjit Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation; Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of Ministry of Planning; & Union Minister of State of Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Members At A Glance

No.	Header	Information
1	Chairperson	Narendra Modi
2	Vice Chairperson	Suman Bery
3	Ex-Officio Members	1) Amit Shah 2) Rajnath Singh 3) Nirmala Sitaraman 4) Narendra Singh Tomar
4	Special Invitees	1) Nitin Gadkari 2) Piyush Goyal 3) Virendra Kumar 4) Ashwini Vaishnaw 5) Rao Inderjit Singh
5	Full-time Members	1) Dr. V. K. Saraswat (Ex DRDO Chief) 2) Prof. Ramesh Chand (Agriculture Expert) 3) Dr. V. K. Paul (Public Health Expert) 4) Dr. Arvind Virmani ( Economist)
6	Chief Executive Officer (CEO)	B.V.R. Subrahmanyam
7	Governing Council	1) All Chief Ministers of States (+ Delhi & Puducherry) 2) Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands 3) Special Invites

Objectives Of NITI Aayog

To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors, and strategies with the active involvement of States.

To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States continuously, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation.

To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively at higher levels of government.

To ensure, in areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated in economic strategy and policy.

To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefiting adequately from economic progress.

To design strategic and long-term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy. The lessons learned through monitoring and feedback will be used for making innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections.

To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international like-minded think tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.

To create a knowledge, innovation, and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community of national and international experts, practitioners, and other partners.

To offer a platform for the resolution of inter-sectoral and inter departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

To maintain 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 dissemination to stakeholders.

To actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.

To focus on technology upgradation and capacity building for the implementation of programmes and initiatives.

To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the national development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.

Features Of NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog is developing itself as a state-of-the-art resource centre with the necessary knowledge and skills that will enable it to act with speed, promote research and innovation, provide strategic policy vision for the government, and deal with contingent issues.

It is supported by an attached office, Development Monitoring and Evaluation Organisation (DMEO), a Flagship Initiative, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), and an autonomous body, the National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD).

NITI Aayog’s entire gamut of activities can be divided into four main heads:

Policy & Programme Framework

Cooperative Federalism
Monitoring & Evaluation
Think Tank, Knowledge & Innovation Hub

The different Verticals, Cells, Attached, & Autonomous bodies of NITI provide the requisite coordination and support framework needed to carry out its mandate.

The list of Verticals and Cells is given below.

No.	Verticals/Cells	No.	Verticals/Cells
1	Administration	13	Infrastructure-Energy
2	Agriculture and Allied Sectors	14	Natural Resources and Environment, and Island Development
3	Aspirational Districts Programme Cell	15	Project Appraisal and Management Division
4	Communication and Social Media Cell	16	Public-Private Partnership
5	Data Management and Analysis, Frontier Technologies	17	Rural Development
6	Economics and Finance Cell	18	Science and Technology
7	Education	19	Social Justice and Empowerment, and Voluntary Action Cell
8	Governance and Research	20	Social Sector-I (Skill Development, Labour and Employment, Urban Development)
9	Governing Council Secretariat and Coordination	21	Social Sector II (Health and Nutrition, Women and Child Development)
10	Industry-I	22	State Finances and Coordination
11	Industry-II	23	Sustainable Development Goals
12	Infrastructure-Connectivity	24	Water Resources/Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana/Land Resources

Meeting Of Governing Council

NITI Aayog was formed via a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1^st January 2015. The Governing Council of NITI Aayog, comprising Chief Ministers of all the States & Union Territories with legislatures and Lieutenant Governors of other Union Territories, came into effect on 16^th February 2015 via notification by the Cabinet Secretariat.

The Governing Council was reconstituted vide a notification dated 19^th February 2021 by the Cabinet Secretariat. The Governing Council is the premier body tasked with evolving a shared vision of national priorities and strategies, with the active involvement of States, in shaping the development narrative.

The Governing Council, which embodies the objectives of cooperative federalism, presents a platform to discuss inter-sectoral, inter-departmental, and federal issues to accelerate the implementation of the national development agenda.

So far, seven meetings of the Governing Council have been held under the chairmanship of the Hon’ble Prime Minister with Chief Ministers/Lt Governors of the States/UTs and other members of the Governing Council.

No.	Meeting	Date
1	First Meeting	08 Feb 2015
2	Second meeting	15 Jul 2015
3	Third Meeting	23 Apr 2017
4	Fourth Meeting	17 Jun 2018
5	Fifth Meeting	15 Jun 2019
6	Sixth Meeting	20 Feb 2021
7	Seventh Meeting	07 Aug 2022

Full Forms Related To NITI Aayog

No.	Acronym	Full-Forms
1	AIM	Atal Innovation Mission
2	APMC	Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee
3	ATL	Atal Tinkering Lab
4	CAMPA	Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority
5	DoPT	Department of Personnel and Training
6	DoSE&L	Department of School Education & Literacy
7	ECA	Essential Commodities Act
8	GC	Governing Council
9	GDP	Gross Domestic Product
10	GeM	Government e Marketplace
11	GrAM	Gramin Agricultural Markets
12	IFC	Institute For Competitiveness
13	III	India Innovation Index
14	MNREGA	Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
15	MoHUA	Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
16	NAC	National Advisory Council
17	NAM	National Agriculture Market
18	NDA	National Democratic Alliance
19	NEP	National Education Policy
20	POSHAN	Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition
21	SEP	Student Entrepreneurship Programme
22	UPA	United Progressive Alliance