Planning Commission: Dead! NITI Aayog: Alive! Central Control: Immortal!

 

Planning Commission: Dead! NITI Aayog: Alive! Central Control: Immortal!

For over six decades, India’s economic direction ran on Five-Year Plans, i.e., the policy equivalent of writing ambitious goals in a diary and then losing it in a bureaucratic cupboard.

The Planning Commission fancied itself as the brain of the Indian economy. It set targets, allocated funds, and directed states on everything from steel production to how many biscuits you could eat (okay, almost), all while sitting comfortably in Delhi. Growth was steady, but often more centrally approved than locally owned.

The problem? Targets were lofty, implementation uneven, and mid-course corrections rare. By the time anyone noticed, we were planning to plan better. It was top-down economics with a Soviet flavor, minus the efficiency.

Cut to 2015: The Planning Commission was quietly retired, replaced by NITI Aayog, its sleeker, corporate-sounding successor. With dashboards, data analytics, and phrases like “cooperative federalism” and “competitive governance,” it promised a smarter, more adaptive planning era. Sounds cool, right?

Well, sort of. NITI doesn’t allocate funds, doesn’t enforce plans, and doesn’t quite plan either. It advises (read: suggests gently while watching what the Centre actually wants). It’s like replacing your old landline with a smartphone—more features, better interface—but the voice on the other end still comes from Delhi. Different name. Sleeker branding. But if you're wondering whether centralized control ever really left the room… it’s still sitting there. Smiling. With a fresh slide deck.

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