The Best Laid Plans: On NITI Aayog
NITI Aayog’s shift away from five-year plans requires more substance
Narendra Modi is not the first Chief Minister to have gone on to become Prime Minister. But given his well-known disdain for the erstwhile Planning Commission’s control-and-command approach towards States and his oft-repeated emphasis on ‘cooperative federalism’, there were great expectations from the successor organisation, the NITI Aayog. The Five Year Plans — the last one ended on March 31 — were relegated to history, to be replaced by a three-year action plan. This was to be part of a seven-year strategy that would in turn help realise a 15-year long-term vision. When the Aayog’s Governing Council that includes the Prime Minister and all Chief Ministers met, it was hoped that the fine print as well as the big picture of the new planning approach had been worked out. However, all that was handed out was a draft action agenda for the three years till 2019-20, with 300 specific action points. This agenda is meant to be the first step towards attaining the envisioned outcomes by 2031-32. This ‘New India’, as NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya put it, will ensure housing for all, with toilets, LPG, power and digital connections; access to a personal vehicle, air conditioner and white goods for ‘nearly all’; and a fully literate population with universal health care.
Assuming that the economy grows at 8% annually hereon, the Aayog has presented estimates about the size of the economy and per capita incomes by 2031-32, though juxtaposing these with China’s performance in the last 15 years is a bit odd. India’s GDP will rise by ₹332 lakh crore in the next 15 years, the Aayog reckons. The bare details of the 15-year vision that have been shared seem like motherhood statements with some optimistic numerical guesswork. But even that is more than we know about the seven-year strategy. Without the larger strategy and vision in place, the three-year action plan is likely to be more of an abstract wish list that Chief Ministers will now evaluate and revert on. Effectively, till it is ratified by the Council, there is a vacuum in India’s policy framework — similar to the delayed starts of past Five Year Plans. It is not yet apparent if the 12th Plan’s innovation of painting alternative scenarios (of actions and outcomes) — a more useful tool for longer-term planning — has been adopted. Meanwhile, the PM’s message to States to speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure development is important as pump-priming the economy is not only the Centre’s task. All the same, asking the States to take the initiative on switching India’s financial year to match the calendar year is unusual as it requires the Centre to take the lead by making public the report of the committee that has recommended this. To make cooperative federalism truly effective, the Council, or Team India as Mr. Modi calls it, must meet more often — a nearly two-year gap in doing so is a recipe for communication breakdown.
IMPORTANT WORDS FORM ARTICLE & THEIR MEANING
1) Disdain (तिरस्कार) - Dis-dain
Meaning - the feeling that someone or something is unworthy of one's consideration or respect - Noun
consider to be unworthy of one's consideration - Verb
Synonyms - scorn, disrespect
Antonyms - admiration, respect
Example - I have so much disdain for cheaters.
2) Erstwhile (à¤ूतपूर्व) - Er-st-while
Meaning - former - Adjective
formerly - Adverb
Synonyms - former, old
Example - We were erstwhile companions at boarding school.
3) Emphasis (महत्त्व) - M-pha-sis
Meaning - special importance, value, or prominence given to something - Noun
Synonyms - importance, significance
Antonyms - ignorance, lethargy
Example - My parents never fail to emphasize the spirit of giving during the holidays.
4) Relegated (निर्वासित कर देना) - Rele-gate-ed
Meaning - assign an inferior rank or position to - Verb
Synonyms - consign, entrust
Antonyms - deny, disapprove
Example - As the coordinator of the show, Chuck decided to relegate the backstage duties to local technicians.
5) Envisioned (कल्पना) - In-vision-ed
Meaning - imagine as a future possibility, visualize - Verb
Synonyms - externalize, behold
Example - As a child, Barbara envisioned herself as a royal type who would one day become a queen.
6) Juxtaposing (मुक़ाबला) - Just-a-pose-ing
Meaning - place or deal with close together for contrasting effect - Verb
Synonyms - appose, connect
Example - The reality clearly shows a cultural juxtaposition between rich people and poor people.
7) Abstract (सार) - Ab-str-act
Meaning - existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence - Adjective
consider something theoretically or separately from (something else) - Verb
a summary of the contents of a book, article, or speech - Noun
Synonyms - extract, conceptual
Antonyms - real, actual
Example - When I opened the board game, I was completely confused by the abstract instructions.
8) Revert (लौट आना) - Re-vert
Meaning - return to (a previous state, practice, topic, etc.) - Verb
Synonyms - return, regress
Antonyms - develop, continue
Example - The state court refused to revert the local court’s decision.
Word of the Day
Ambivert (उà¤à¤¯à¤®ुखी) - Am-bi-vert- Meaning - a person who has a balance of extrovert and introvert features in their personality - Noun
- Example (English) - Some people fall closer to the extreme personality types while others, known as ambiverts, settle in the middle.
- Example (Hindi) - कुछ लोग चरम व्यक्तित्व प्रकारों के करीब होते हैं, लेकिन अन्य, जिन्हें उà¤à¤¯à¤µà¤°्ती कहते हैं, मध्य में आते हैं।
Now considering the article above as a Reading Comprehension question, try to answer the following -
- What is NITI Aayog and what are its functions?
- What is the structure of Governing Council of NITI Aayog?
Given below are some words to check your vocabulary you can make sentences with those words in the comment section which will be reviewed by us.
- Optimistic
- Priming
- Federalism
- Agenda
