News Excerpt:
On July 16, NDA government restructured the NITI Aayog, incorporating four full-time members and 15 Union Ministers, including allies from the BJP, as either ex-officio members or special invitees.
More detail about news:
- According to an official notification, the Prime Minister retains his role as chairperson, while economist Suman K. Bery continues as vice-chairperson.
- The NITI Aayog will also retain scientist V.K. Saraswat, agricultural economist Ramesh Chand, pediatrician V.K. Paul, and macro-economist Arvind Virmani as full-time members.
- The ex-officio members include:
- Rajnath Singh (Defence Minister),
- Amit Shah (Home Minister),
- Shivraj Singh Chouhan (Agriculture Minister), and
- Nirmala Sitharaman (Finance Minister).
- The special invitees to the reconstituted NITI Aayog are:
- Nitin Gadkari (Road Transport and Highways Minister),
- Jagat Prakash Nadda (Health Minister),
- H.D. Kumaraswamy (Heavy Industries and Steel Minister),
- Jitan Ram Manjhi (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister), and
- Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh (Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying Minister).
- Additional special invitees include:
- Virendra Kumar (Social Justice and Empowerment Minister),
- Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu (Civil Aviation Minister),
- Jual Oram (Tribal Affairs Minister),
- Annpurna Devi (Women and Child Development Minister),
- Chirag Paswan (Food Processing Industries Minister), and
- Rao Inderjit Singh (Statistics and Programme Implementation Minister).
About NITI Aayog:
- The National Institution for Transforming India, better known as NITI Aayog, was established in 2015 after the Modi government dissolved the 65-year-old Planning Commission.
- NITI Aayog offers strategic and technical advice to central and state governments on key policy elements, including national and international economic issues, the dissemination of best practices from India and abroad, the infusion of new policy ideas, and specific issue-based support.
- NITl Aayog is based on the 7 Pillars of Effective Governance:
- Pro-people agenda: Meeting the aspirations of society and individuals.
- Pro-active approach: Anticipating and responding to needs.
- Participative governance: Involving citizens.
- Empowerment of women: In all aspects.
- Inclusion of all groups: Focusing on the economically weak, SC, ST, and OBC communities, the rural sector and farmers, youth, and minorities.
- Equality of opportunity: For the country’s youth.
- Transparency: Using technology to ensure government visibility and responsiveness.
- NITI Aayog consists of the following components:
- Prime Minister of India: As the Chairperson.
- Governing Council: Comprising the Chief Ministers of all States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
- Regional Councils: Formed to address specific issues affecting more than one state or region. These councils, convened by the Prime Minister, will include Chief Ministers of States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in the region and will be chaired by the Chairperson of NITI Aayog or a nominee.
- Special Invitees: Experts, specialists, and practitioners with relevant domain knowledge, nominated by the Prime Minister.
- The full-time organizational framework includes:
- Vice-Chairperson: Appointed by the Prime Minister.
- Full-time Members.
- Part-time Members: Up to two from leading universities, research organizations, and other relevant institutions in an ex-officio capacity, serving on a rotational basis.
- Ex Officio Members: Up to four members of the Union Council of Ministers, nominated by the Prime Minister.
- Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by the Prime Minister for a fixed tenure, with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
- Secretariat: As deemed necessary.
