Niti Aayog should take care of past grievances
There is no valid reason for the Opposition to cry foul over the Government's decision to create the National Institution for Transforming India (Niti) Aayog. The Aayog, which replaces the decades-old Planning Commission, promises to promote the spirit of federalism in both planning and the Centre's disbursal of funds to the States. However, even before the Niti Aayog has been fully constituted, parties such as the Congress and the left have taken antagonistic positions that are driven by their scary pre-suppositions — which in turn are determined by their political distaste for the Narendra Modi Government. While Congress leaders have ridiculed the change in nomenclature, one left leader has announced that the new institution was “a-niti” (non-policy) and “dur-niti” (bad policy). What can one make of these remarks except that they refuse to acknowledge changes having the potential to write a fresh narrativeIJ Opposition leaders would have sounded more mature had they reserved their judgement for a later date — after the Niti Aayog had had time to perform. The irony is that many State leaders had held a grudge against the Planning Commission, saying that its ‘one-size-fits-all' approach had harmed the States.
They had also taken exception to the Union Government's approach of treating them as supplicants who should be happy with whatever they got. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, having served as a Chief Minister, understood this friction well, which is why one of the first major announcements he made on taking charge at the Centre was the replacement of the Planning Commission with a holistic body that would not only offer representation to the States but also craft a new planning model for the country. If there is opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party's rivals despite the expected improvements, it can only be explained as being blinded. Congress leaders believe that the scrapping of the Planning Commission amounts to dismantling the Nehruvian model of development. But the bare fact is that many experts had in recent years come around to believing that this ‘Nehruvian model' had outlived its purpose. That said, it would be naïve and even mischievous to claim that the Modi regime has scrapped the plan panel to purposely spite Nehruvian ideas.
Even a casual glance at the composition of the Niti Aayog indicates at the major role States and Union Territories will play in planned development. The Aayog, to be headed by the Prime Minister, will have a Governing Council to be represented by Chief Ministers and lt Governors, and Regional Councils having the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers. These bodies are expected to replace the National Development Council which, admittedly had become defunct because many Chief Ministers, upset over the shoddy treatment their opinions received, had stopped taking it seriously. It may be argued that the Governing Council and the Regional Councils could go their predecessor's way. This is unlikely because, this time around the State's representatives will be there right at the top of the roundtable in a decision-making capacity. In such a situation, the top-down approach will necessarily give way to the bottom-up approach. Who can object to thatIJ