BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has taken a NITI turn by deciding to set up a new apex think tank, the State Institute for Transformative Initiative (SITI) Odisha, replacing the nearly eight-decade-old State Planning Board.
The Planning and Convergence department in a resolution to this effect stated it will shift the planning structure to a more dynamic, strategy driven framework aligned with the state’s long-term vision of Samrudha Odisha-2036 and Viksit Bharat-2047.
Soon after coming to power, the Mohan Charan Majhi government had dissolved the State Planning Board on July 18, 2024, citing the growing irrelevance of the traditional planning mechanism in a rapidly evolving economic and governance landscape. In its place, SITI Odisha will function as a high-level policy research and strategic advisory body, providing forward-looking insights and evidence-based recommendations to guide the state’s development trajectory, the government said.
SITI Odisha will operate under the administrative control of the Planning and Convergence department. The chief minister will head the governing council as chairperson.
The institute will focus on key priority areas including economy and finance, rural livelihood, employment and urban development, ideation and innovation, energy transition, environment, forest and natural resources. Each thematic area will be aligned with measurable outcomes to enhance governance efficiency and accountability.
The organisational structure of SITI Odisha includes a vice-chairperson in the rank of cabinet minister, four persons of eminence with domain expertise in priority areas of the state government as full-time members in the rank of minister of state, nine ex-officio members and two special invitees. All these appointments will be made by the chief minister.
The development commissioner will serve as member secretary while a chief executive officer at the level of principal secretary or secretary will oversee its functioning, supported by domain experts, a programme director and a multidisciplinary project implementation unit. In addition, a dedicated state monitoring and evaluation office (SMEO) will function under SITI Odisha as the nodal agency for data-driven governance and performance tracking.
The State Planning Board was established in 1946 with its last meeting held on October 15, 2007 under the chairmanship of the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The Board was largely ineffective in the last 17 years till its dissolution in 2024.