NITI Aayog's three-year action plan for nation's development; here are the highlights

Presenting a draft of the three-year action agenda for the nation’s development at the planning body’s Governing Council meeting, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said inputs from the states as well as central ministries and subject experts have been incorporated in the agenda. The vice-chairman also invited further inputs and support of the states in taking the vision forward. “The action agenda is co-terminus with the 14th Finance Commission’s award. This gives stability to the funding estimates of both the Centre and states,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_2074917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Here all the highlights of the three-year action plan: 1) Panagariya said that apart from the action agenda, there would be a seven-year strategy and a 15-year long-term vision that will replace the erstwhile Five-Year Plans for the nation’s planning framework. The 12th Five-Year Plan ended on 31 March. 2) During the meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the action agenda was just a draft and that all suggestions by the chief ministers of various states would be taken into account before finalising it. 3) Panagariya said the 15-year vision document pegs the Indian economy’s growth from Rs 137 lakh crore in 2015-16 to Rs 469 lakh crore by 2031-32 at 2015-16 prices. 4) Panagariya said the three-year agenda has been divided into seven parts, with each part having a number of specific action points. 5) Over 300 specific action points have been identified covering the whole gamut of sectors, he said. 6) The NITI Vice-Chairman said subsequent parts deal with major sectors, growth enablers, governance, social sectors and sustainable development. 7) NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the major take-away was that the think tank assured there was no vacuum after the 12th Five-Year plan that ended on March 31 as it quickly worked on the three-year plan. 8) During NITI Aayog Governing Council’s third meeting, Kant outlined the initiatives taken in areas like agriculture, poverty elimination, health, education, digital payments, disinvestment, coastal zone, and island development. He said that NITI Aayog will work with states to improve basic services and infrastructure, especially in districts and regions which require specific attention. With inputs from IANS