Niti Aayog lists promoting digi-payments as achievement

Making recommendations for reforms in agriculture and promoting digital payments are among the significant achievements of NITI Aayog over the last three years, an official statement said today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow chair the third meeting of NITI Aayog's Governing Council which will deliberate on the 15-year Vision Document to accelerate the country's economic development.

Government had set up NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) on January 1, 2015 to replace 65-year old socialist-era body, the Planning Commission. Listing out its significant achievements in the last three years, the Aayog said it has formulated a Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016 to both recognise the rights of the tenant and safeguard interest of landowners.

The government's think tank also said that a committee chaired by Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog has recommended scrapping of the Medical Council of India and suggested a new body for regulating medical education.

"The draft legislation for the proposed National Medical Commission has been submitted to the government for further necessary action," it said. The NITI Aayog had also constituted a committee of chief ministers on digital payments on November 30, 2016 with the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu as the Convener to promote transparency, financial inclusion and a healthy financial ecosystem nationwide.

The committee submitted its interim report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in January this year. As part of the prime minister's focus on outcomes, NITI Aayog said it has come out with indices to measure incremental annual outcomes in critical social sectors like health, education and water to nudge states into competing with each other for better outcomes.

Other achievements listed by the Aayog includes rationalisation of existing Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) into 28 umbrella schemes which was based on recommendations of sub-group of chief ministers.