Non-constitutional bodies – NITI Aayog

Non- Constitutional Bodies or Extra Constitutional Bodies are formed by the government’s action and not defined in the constitution of India. These bodies are formed as per the country’s requirements and can be abolished by the executive if needed. 

The Planning Commission of India was replaced by NITI Aayog 7 years ago, on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog stands for National Institution for Transforming India. The current chairman of the concerned non-constitutional body is Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India. The main objective of NITI Aayog is to suggest the Government with reliable strategic, directional and technical advice on social and economic issues at central and state levels.

Non-constitutional bodies

A non-constitutional body derives its authority from corresponding laws passed by the Indian Parliament instead of from the Indian Constitution. There are various non-constitutional bodies in India, including NITI Aayog.

There are broadly two classifications of non-constitutional bodies –

Statutory Bodies: A body or organisation associated with some officially written rules.

Non-Statutory Bodies: A body or organisation not related to any set of rules or no laws regulating that organisation. 

NITI Aayog

NITI Aayog is also known as a “Think Tank” for serving as an advisory body to the government. It replaced the top-down model with the bottom-up approach through the involvement of the state government of India. NITI Aayog is located in New Delhi, having the Ministry of Planning as the parent government agency. 

It’s a non-constitutional and non-statutory body of India as it is not created by the Indian Constitution nor by any act of Parliament. This non-constitutional body is considered the premier policy-maker institution, and its main duty is to enhance the country’s economic growth.

The name NITI Aayog was chosen as the name of this authority because, in Sanskrit, NITI refers to behaviour, morality, guidance, etc. But as the full form of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) suggests, it means policy.

History

The Planning Commission was scrapped on 13th August 2014 to be replaced, and the resolution for the same was passed on January 1, 2015. The finance minister observed creating NITI Aayog as the Planning Commission had become superfluous in diversifying India. The Planning Commission has an old-fashioned approach of ‘one size fits all, which couldn’t help India be competitive. This step was taken by keeping two things in mind. First, to serve the needs of the people. Second, to serve their needs. 

All this led to the formation of the nodal agency named NITI Aayog. The premier policy think-tank of the government of India is the NITI Aayog. It provides policy and directional inputs. It has the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with contingent issues, act with speed, provide strategic policy vision for the government, and promote research and innovation.   

Objectives:

• Formulating credible plans at lower levels and aggregating them progressively at higher levels

• Capacity building and technical advancement for assisting the implementation of initiatives and programmes

• Involvement of states with the focusing on national development objectives 

• Framing strategic and long term policy and programme, and also monitoring their ability to produce the desired result

• Incorporate interests of national security in economic policy and strategy

• Recognising that strong states make strong nation by fostering corporate federalism through structured initiatives and mechanisms 

• Focus on sections at risk of getting no benefit from economic growth

• Providing suggestions and encouraging partnerships between like-minded organisations, key stakeholders and educational and policy research institutions.

Composition of NITI Aayog:

• It comprises the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, as the chairperson. 

• Chief Minister of all states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories as the general council

• The Prime Minister nominated a vice-chairman (currently Rajiv Kumar).

Temporary members, in addition,

Selected from research institutions and leading universities, including four ex-officials, a CEO(Chief Executive Member), and two part-time members.

The reconstitution of NITI Aayog was approved on 18 September 2021 by the Prime Minister as:

• Chairperson of the non-constitutional body

• Vice-Chairperson

• Three full-time workers

• Four Ex-Officio members

• Five Special invitees

Some powers and functions of NITI Aayog:

The four main classifications of various functions performed by NITI Aayog is as follows:

• Designing program and policy framework

• Fostering cooperative federalism

• Knowledge and innovation hub

• Monitoring and evaluation

NITI Lectures:

A new initiative called NITI Lectures – Transforming India on the suggestion of Prime Minister 

To invite policymakers, experts and administrators globally to India. The initiative was made to learn from their knowledge, experiences, good governance and policy formulation expertise.

The first step consisted of the lecture by the deputy prime minister of Singapore on a very subjective topic,” India and the Global Economy”. Also, the vision of the Prime Minister was stated as being ‘Rapid Transformation, not gradual evolution.

Conclusion:

An organisation or institution not mentioned in the Constitution of India is known as a Non-Constitutional Body. It does not derive powers from the Indian Constitution but the corresponding laws on Indian Government Orders. National Institution for Transforming India or NITI Aayog is one of the non-constitutional bodies and the successor in interest to the Planning Commission. All the activities are undertaken with the plan of national development. It was formed to provide advice and suggestions to the government. It provides directional and policy inputs and relevant suggestions to states, centres, and Union Territories. NITI Aayog is the leading policy think tank taken into action to better serve the needs and desires of the people.