NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the first meeting of the newly formed NITI Aayog on February 6. The meeting intends to spell out the functional roadmap for the new planning body. The meeting of the Aayog’s governing council comprising all Chief Ministers and Lt. Governors of UTs is being scheduled for February 8.
“The meeting will streamline the roadmap for the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog and would finalise the plan about what would be the roadmap for the body which was formed on January 1, after the 60–year old socialist era planning body was dismantled to make way for the new planning body,” those in privy of the development said.
First Vice-Chairman of the Aayog, Arvind Panagariya, and full time member Bibek Debroy had joined the Aayog earlier this month. The other full-time member of the body, V K Saraswat is expected to join shortly.
The ex-officio members of the Aayog include Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh.
Aayog’s special invitees are Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot and Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani.
“The first meeting will straighten the way and lend a clear direction to the new planning body,” sources added.
The meeting is expected to bring more clarity on role Aayog will play in evolving model for revenue generation and expenditure realisation.
Modi, who is the Chairman of Aayog, had held a meeting of all Chief Ministers on December 7 for seeking their views on the new body which had to replace the erstwhile Planning Commission, at his residence.
The proposed meeting on February 6 will also be a precursor to the governing council meeting as agenda would be set during the deliberations.