NITI Aayog is a tool for controlling states, alleges Congress MP Shantaram Naik

Panaji: Senior Congress leader Shantaram Naik accused the Narendra Modi government of trying to control the states through NITI Aayog. The socialist-era Planning Commission was in 2015 replaced by a new think-tank, NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India), which is headed by the prime minister and has all chief ministers as members to involve states in evolving national development priorities. [caption id=“attachment_3464536” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Congress MP Shantaram Naik. Twitter @shantaramgoa[/caption] “The Modi-led government completely disbanded the Planning Commission, and replaced it with the NITI Aayog. The aim of NITI Aayog is to dictate the chief ministers what they should do in their states,” Naik alleged. The Rajya Sabha member of parliament from Goa was addressing a gathering after paying homage to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi on his death anniversary. Naik said that NITI Aayog has been given enormous powers which were never vested with the Planning Commission. “No chief minister from BJP-run states has the guts to go against the directives of NITI Aayog,” he said. He also criticised the central government for its policies, including the ‘Make In India’ initiative which seeks to promote manufacturing in the country. “The ‘Make In India’ policy has remained just on paper. In reality, there are hardly any foreign firms which have shifted their facilities in India,” Naik said.