The central government constitutes a 10-member group headed by NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant to fight corona

Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II- GOVERNANCE

On April 5, 2020, In order to deal with this coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic, the central government constituted a 10-member group under the chairmanship of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Amitabh Kant.

Key Points:

i.The work of this group will primarily identify issues through 3 groups of stakeholders, and then present effective measures to address solutions to the issues related to the formulation of plans for counter-activities related to COVID-19. The 3 groups include

• The UN agencies, World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB)
• Civil Society Organisations and development partners
• Industry associations – CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), FICCI ( Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India), NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies).

ii. NITI Aayog writes to the over 92,000 NGOs (Non-governmental organizations) / CSOs (civil society organisations) registered on its ‘Darpan’ portal to help the government identify hotspots, the elderly, the differently-abled, children & other vulnerable groups to fight against the virus.
iii. Other members of the Committee include Dr Vijayaraghavan, PSA, Kamal Kishore (Member, NDMA); Sandeep Mohan Bhatnagar (Member, CBIC); Anil Malik (AS, MHA); Vikram Doraiswami, (AS, MEA); P. Harish (AS, MEA); Gopal Baglay (JS, PMO); Aishvarya Singh (DS, PMO); Tina Soni (DS, Cabinet Secretariat); and Sanyukta Samaddar (Adviser, SDG, NITI Aayog).

NITI Aayog Evolution

The NITI Aayog was formed on January 1, 2015. In Sanskrit, the word “NITI” means morality, behaviour, 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 which 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”.

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

NITI Aayog is additionally creating itself as a State of 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

1. The active participation of States in the light of national objectives and to provide a framework ‘national agenda’.
2. To promote cooperative federalism through well-ordered support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on an uninterrupted basis.
3. To construct methods to formulate a reliable strategy at the village level and aggregate these gradually at higher levels of government.
4. Economic policy that incorporates national security interests.
5. To pay special consideration to the sections of the society that may be at risk of not profiting satisfactorily from economic progress.
6. To propose strategic and long-term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and review their progress and their effectiveness.
7. To grant advice and encourage partnerships between important stakeholders and national- international Think Tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.
8. To generate knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a shared community of national and international experts, etc.
9. To provide a platform for the resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to speed up the accomplishment of the progressive agenda.
10. 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.
11. To effectively screen and assess the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the identification of the needed resources to strengthen the likelihood of success.
12. To pay attention to technology improvement and capacity building for the discharge of programs and initiatives.
13. To undertake other necessary activities in order 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:

1. Pro-people: it fulfils the aspirations of society as well as individuals
2. Pro-activity: in anticipation of and response to citizen needs
3. Participation: involvement of the citizenry
4. Empowering: Empowering, especially women in all aspects
5. Inclusion of all: inclusion of all people irrespective of caste, creed, and gender
6. Equality: Providing equal opportunity to all, especially for youth
7. Transparency: Making the government visible and responsive

NITI Aayog Composition

The NITI Aayog will comprise the following:

1. Prime Minister of India is the Chairperson
2. Governing Council consists of the Chief Ministers of all the States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories in India.
3. 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.
4. Special invitees: Eminent experts, and specialists with relevant domain knowledge, which will be nominated by the Prime Minister.
5. The full-time organizational framework will include, in addition to the Prime Minister as the Chairperson:
   1. Vice-Chairperson (appointed by the Prime Minister)
   2. Members:
      • Full-time
      • 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.
   3. Ex Officio members: Maximum of 4 members of the Council of Ministers which is to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
   4. Chief Executive Officer: The 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.

About NITI Aayog:

Headquarters– New Delhi.

Chairperson– Narendra Modi.

Vice Chairperson– Rajiv Kumar.

Jai HIND Jai Bharat