Revision summary
NITI Aayog (2015) replaced the Planning Commission as a think tank, not a Plan-fund body. Objectives: cooperative federalism, SDG monitoring, innovation, and programme design. The Three-Year Action Agenda ran 2017–18 to 2019–20 under a 15-year vision and 7-year strategy. Priorities included jobs, farm income, infrastructure, inclusion, and governance. It was indicative; Union and State budgets still spend, while NITI tracks ranks and districts.
Model answer
Introduction
NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 as the Union’s policy think tank. Its job is cooperative federalism and evidence, not a rigid Five-Year Plan allocation.
Body
Objectives
- It is to foster cooperative federalism by giving States a seat in national policy through the Governing Council chaired by the Prime Minister.
- It is to be a knowledge and innovation hub: strategy, monitoring of Sustainable Development Goals, and Atal Innovation Mission.
- It is to design and track programmes such as the Aspirational Districts Programme rather than sanction every State plan as the old Commission did.
- Competitive federalism is pushed through indices (SDG, health, water, innovation) so that States can see ranks and copy better practice.
Three-Year Action Agenda
- The Three-Year Action Agenda covered 2017–18 to 2019–20 as a near-term work list under a longer Fifteen-Year Vision and Seven-Year Strategy.
- It set priorities on growth and jobs, doubling farmers’ income, infrastructure and digital rails, social inclusion, and governance reform.
- Unlike a Five-Year Plan, it was indicative: ministries and States were to align budgets; NITI did not itself release Plan funds.
- Annual reviews and dashboards were meant to convert the agenda into measurable outputs, not another unread document.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD N[NITI Aayog 2015] --> O[Cooperative federalism think tank SDGs] N --> V[Fifteen-Year Vision] V --> S[Seven-Year Strategy] S --> A[Three-Year Action Agenda 2017-20] A --> P[Jobs farm infra inclusion] O --> M[Indices Aspirational Districts] P --> M
Conclusion
NITI Aayog’s objectives are federal partnership, think-tank advice, and monitoring. The Three-Year Action Agenda (2017–20) was the short operational list under a longer vision; delivery still rests on Union and State budgets.
Quick related
Students also ask
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"Indian food processing industry has not grown with the pace of developed countries." Discuss it.
Next question in the 2020 paper (Q3). View answer →
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Does NITI Aayog allocate Five-Year Plan funds?
No. Finance Commission and Union and State budgets allocate money. NITI advises and monitors.
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Was the Three-Year Action Agenda a law?
No. It was a policy agenda. Ministries still needed budget lines and schemes to act.
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