The Samajwadi Party has criticised the Yogi Adityanath government for restructuring the UP State Planning Commission on the lines of the NITI Aayog at the Centre.

The new body will be called the UP State Transformation Commission.

“In its nearly last six years tenure in office, the Yogi Adityanath government has made a name for itself only by changing names of cities and districts and renaming the existing schemes and projects. The change in the name of the State Planning Commission will make no difference in the lives of the common people at the ground level. The government is indulging in such acts only to hide its all-round failure to deliver to the people,” said SP spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary here on Wednesday.

The Uttar Pradesh cabinet on Tuesday cleared the proposal for restructuring of the Uttar Pradesh State Planning Commission on the lines of NITI Aayog at the Centre. Renamed as the State Transformation Commission, the government body will act as a think tank for development and economic progress of the state with the chief minister as its chairperson and ministers, officials and intellectuals from different fields as members. It will also have a vice-chairperson and chief executive officer. The term of the members will be for three years, which can be extended for another two years under special circumstances.

The Uttar Pradesh State Planning Commission was set up in August 1972. While the chief minister will be its chairperson, of the State Transformation Commission, the deputy chief ministers along with ministers of Agriculture, Finance, Social Welfare, Panchayati Raj, Industrial Development, Jal Shakti, Urban Development departments and the minister of state for planning will be members.

The restructured commission will identify the “hurdles” in the implementation of social development schemes and suggest ways to remove them, arranging financial resources through public private partnership (PPP).