The Prime Minister & Chairman of the newly constituted National Institution for Transforming India (NITI), Shri Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of eminent experts on 6th February at NITI Aayog for interaction on the subject of the state of economy and for inviting suggestions on the forthcoming budget. The Honourable Finance Minister would conduct this meeting.

Eminent experts and economists invited for the meeting include Ashok Gulati, Bimal Jalan, G. N. Bajpai, Mukesh Butani, Nitin Desai, Parthasarathi Shome, Pulapare Balakrishnan, Rajiv Lall, R. Vaidyanathan, Rajiv Kumar Shankar Acharya, Subir Gokarn, Swaminathan Aiyer, T.N. Ninan, Vijay Kelkar and Dr. Y.V. Reddy. The meeting will also be attended by Vice Chairman, NITI Dr. Arvind Panagariya and full time Members of NITI Dr. Bibek Debroy and Dr. V.K. Saraswat. MoS (Planning) Rao Indrajit Singh and MoS(Finance) Sri Jayant Sinha would also attend this meeting. In addition, senior officials from PMO, Ministry of Finance and Niti Aayog. The meeting would also be attended by the Chief Economic Adviser Dr. Arvind Subramanian to the Government.

First Meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog

Another important meeting scheduled is the first meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI, which has been convened by the Prime Minister on Feb. 8, 2015 in New Delhi. The Government of India Resolution Dated January 1, 2015 through which NITI has been set up provides for a Governing Council comprising the Chief Ministers of all States and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.

It may be mentioned that a core objective of NITI is to strengthen cooperative federalism. Hence the consultative meeting with the CMs of States and Lt. Governors of UT which was convened by the Prime Minister on December, 7, 2014 has played an important role in shaping its objectives, functions and Structure of the NITI.

The first meeting of the Governing Council is expected to provide further suggestions on setting efficient processes and mechanism of interactions between Centre and States and also between NITI and other stakeholders so that synergy may be ensured between the efforts of different levels of Government and a shared national development framework emerges. The States have also been requested to give their valuable suggestion to make new initiatives of Government of India like Swachh Mission, Make in India campaign, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Smart Cities, Housing for All by 2022, Digital India, Skill India, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana etc. - a success.

Cooperative federalism via NITI's Governing Council to coordinate Centre-State policy inputs and implementation. Strengthening cooperative federalism through institutional consultation and intergovernmental coordination: the Prime Minister has convened expert and State-level consultations under the newly constituted NITI to solicit policy and budgetary suggestions and to establish mechanisms for Centre-State interaction. The Governing Council composed of State and UT heads is intended to advise on efficient processes, interaction mechanisms and to align State inputs with national programmes for coordinated implementation.