Govt reviews Niti Aayog functioning | Economic Times

The government has tasked a panel of external experts to review the functioning of Niti Aayog, the thinktank that was set up six years ago and replaced the Planning Commission.The Niti Evolutionary Committee, as it is called, is headed by Quality Council of India chairman Adil Zainulbhai, with Bain Capital MD Amit Chandra, Avaana Capital founder Anjali Bansal, former telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan, founder of Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship Ravi Venkatesan and environment secretary R P Gupta as members.Given the five major tasks that Niti was asked to work on, the committee will see if there is a need to change its mandate and if there are activities that it should be barred from undertaking. It will also suggest three or four steps to help the institution’s evolution. The panel has also been tasked with examining if the thinktank is delivering on engaging with states and if additional capabilities are required to be developed. But the government has reiterated that the agency will not be given financial powers, something that the Planning Commission enjoyed.Besides, the panel will examine if Niti is engaging with external experts and has emerged as a repository of knowledge across sectors.Some of the panel members that TOI reached out to did not comment but sources said that the issue is being pursued by the PMO which is keeping close tabs on the deliberations.