NITI to merge 15-yr vision document, 7-yr strategy paper

The Dollar Business Bureau 

NITI Aayog, the Government think-tank, has decided to combine the 15-year vision document with 7-year medium-term strategy paper to bring out a comprehensive roadmap to accelerate the economic growth.

“We are thinking of having a brief chapter regarding the vision in the 7-year strategy paper which will be a bulky document outlining the action plan for expediting growth. The vision document will be aspirational, about the kind of country we want to build...The kind of society we want to be in. It will be a kind of vision for the future,” Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog told the media.

Panagariya said that the Aayog has got reactions from around 10 states on the 3-year action agenda draft and will conclude it within 2 weeks.

Earlier, the Government think thank had planned to bring three separate documents — 15-year vision document, 7-year medium-term strategy paper and 3-year action agenda.

The aim of Aayog is to complete the 7-year strategy paper in coming three months, he added.

The draft three-year action agenda has been distributed among the Chief Ministers at the third Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog held on April 23, 2017.

Once the Aayog finalised the agenda, after taking comments from Chief Ministers, it would refer the document to the Prime Minister, the chairman of the NITI Aayog.

The agenda paper had recommended a number of reforms in agriculture, taxation and energy sectors with the aim of expediting economic growth and to increase the employment opportunities in the country.

In addition, the draft agenda had highlighted the need for recalibrating the government’s role by controlling its involvement in those activities which do not serve any public purpose.

Besides, the think tank had also recommended closing down of central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) that are running at a loss and strategic disinvestment of 20 government-owned firms.

The three-year agenda from 2017-18 to 2019-20 suggested measures to check the tax evasion, expanding the tax base and to simplify the taxation system with the help of reforms. The draft agenda had recommended that the government could think on merging the prevailing custom duty rates into a unified rate.

Its suggestions also include setting up of an institutional mechanism for promoting competition via comprehensive assessment and reforms of government guidelines across all the sectors, as well as to strengthen the public procurement system.