NEW DELHI: In line with the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to unveil “New India” by 2022, NITI Aayog on Wednesday signed pact with leading think tanks across the country with an aim to herald an eco-system of evidence based policy research. The NITI Aayog held the first meeting of the “National Steering Group” with the objective to accelerate development process and boost the institutional capacity.
“As many as heads of 32 educational institutions and think-tanks brainstormed in the first meeting, which was presided over by the vice-chairman of the NITI Aayog Arvind Panagaria and the CEO Amitabh Kant. It was deliberated in the meeting on ways to develop the field level interface with the community for the New India 2022,” the NITI Aayog said in a media statement. Senior officials of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Rajasthan also attended the meeting.
The pact signed with the leading think-tanks in the country aims to ensure information exchange among all stakeholders and work together for the desired policy changes to achieve the goals of the “National Development Agenda”, said a senior official, who added that the endevour is to reach out to institutions with specific knowledge and expertise to help the government fulfill the goals of inclusive growth, besides sustainable goals adopted by the United Nations. “Since the draft three years action plans has been shared with the state government, while work is in progress on 15-year vision document, a framework of collective partnership is needed to put the visions into actions within the time span desired by the government,” added the official.
The think-tank panel as part of the “Samavesh” initiative has also created a common platform on its portal to share reports, study done by leading institutions.