State Support Mission

State Support Mission

Subject Polity

Context:

States have approached the NITI Aayog to set up their own public policy institutions to boost development and drive inclusive growth.

Details:

• Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Maharashtra — have made requests to constitute state institutions for transformation, or SITs, along the lines of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.

State Support Mission

• In July, NITI Aayog started a State Support Mission to assist states prepare development strategies. 
• Under the mission, the central body will be supporting states to set up SITs or help the governments reform the role of planning departments.
• Initially, it aims for 8-10 states to set up such bodies, before reaching out to all by March 2023.
• As part of this, the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation, or Mitra, was set up along the lines of NITI Aayog.
• The move is in recognition of the fact that except for sectors like defence, railways and highways, the national gross domestic product (GDP) growth is an aggregation of states’ rates of growth.
• SITs would prepare States’ development strategies.
  • It would reorient state planning boards, prepare a blueprint to guide states in policy formulation, take up monitoring and evaluation of government policies and programmes, and suggest better technology or models for delivery of schemes.
• Lateral entry of professionals will be encouraged in SITs to undertake high-quality analytical work and policy recommendations.

What is NITI Aayog:

• NITI Aayog is a premiere policy think tank of the Government of India. It was established with the aim to achieve sustainable development goals by active involvement of state government in the planning process
• It was established in 2015 via an executive resolution by replacing the Planning Commission of India

What is the composition of the NITI Aayog:

• Chairperson: Prime Minister
• Vice-Chairperson: To be appointed by Prime-Minister.Equivalent to cabinet minister.
• Governing Council: Chief Ministers of all states and Governors of Union Territories.
• Regional Council: To address specific regional issues, Comprising Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors Chaired by the Prime Minister or his nominee.
• Adhoc Membership: 2 members in ex-officio capacity from leading Research institutions on rotational basis.
• Ex-Officio membership: Maximum four from the Union council of ministers to be nominated by the Prime minister.
• Chief Executive Officer: Appointed by Prime-minister for a fixed tenure, in rank of Secretary to Government of India.
• Special Invitees: Experts, Specialists with domain knowledge nominated by the Prime-minister