ANNUAL REPORT

2018-19
TABLE
OF
CONTENTS

NITI AAYOG ANNUAL REPORT 2018 – 19

A. NITI AAYOG – AN OVERVIEW
1. Constitution and Composition of NITI Aayog 2
2. Objectives & Functions of NITI Aayog 3
3. Administration & Support Units 4
4. Offices Attached to NITI Aayog 6
i. Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) 6
ii. National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD) 7
iii. Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister 7

B. POLICY & PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK

1. Agriculture Sector Reforms 12
2. Reforms in Nutrition 14
3. Health Sector Reforms 18
4. Reforms in Higher Education 20
5. Mineral Sector Reforms 21
6. Energy Sector Reforms 21
7. Transforming Aspirational Districts 22
8. Transforming India’s Gold Market 24

C. MONITORING & EVALUATION

1. Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) 29
i. Output Outcome Monitoring Framework 29
ii. Sectoral Review Dashboard 29
iii. Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Dashboard 30
iv. Scheme Appraisals 30
v. Quick Assessment Field Visits 30
vi. Evaluation Studies 31
2. Key Performance Indexes 32
i. Composite Water Management Index 32
ii. School Education Quality Index (SEQI) 33
iii. Index of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs) 33
iv. Ease of Doing Agriculture Index 33
v. SDG India Index 34
3. Performance Dashboards 38
i. Champions of Change – Aspirational Districts Dashboard 38
ii. SDG India Dashboard 40
iii. Nutrition Dashboards 41
iv. Atal Tinkering Labs Dashboard 41
4. Management and Monitoring of Government Service Delivery 41
5. Review of Autonomous Bodies 42
D. COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM
1. Governing Council 45
i. Sub-group of States on using MGNREGA for Agriculture activities 46
2. NITI Forum for North East 47
i. New Industrial policy for North Eastern States 48
ii. Management of Water Resources for North East 48
3. Holistic Development of Islands 49
4. Sustainable Development in the Indian Himalayan Region 51
5. Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH) 52
6. Development Support Services to States (DSSS) 53
7. Development of Partnerships with States and UTs 54

E. PROMOTING INNOVATION & ENTREPRENEURSHIP

1. Atal Innovation Mission 57
2. MOVE: Global Mobility Summit 2018 60
3. Women Entrepreneurship Platform 62
4. Women Transforming India Awards 2018 64
5. Statements of Intent - Collaborating for Transformation 65

F. THINK TANK ACTIVITIES

1. Strategy For New India @ 75 69
2. India Knowledge Hub 71
3. National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence 72
4. Initiating Methanol Economy in India 72
5. International Partnerships 73
6. Think Tank Activities 76
7. Engaging Beyond Borders 78
8. National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD) 80

G. SECTORAL OBJECTIVES & ACHIEVEMENTS

1. Agriculture & Allied Services 86
2. Health and Nutrition 90
3. Women & Child Development 93
4. Governance & Research 96
5. HRD 100
6. Skill Development & Employment 103
7. Rural Development 104
8. Sustainable Development Goals 105
9. Energy and International Cooperation 107
 10. Managing Urbanisation 111
11. Industry 112
12. Infrastructure Connectivity 116
13. Financial Resources 119
14. Natural Resources & Environment 120
15. Science & Technology 121
16. State Coordination & Decentralised Planning 123
17. Social Justice & Empowerment 127
18. Land & Water Resources 131
19. Data Management & Analysis 133
20. Public Private Partnerships 135
21. Project Appraisal and Management Division (PAMD) 137
22. Voluntary Action Cell 140
23. Governing Council Secretariat 142
24. Official Language Division (Hindi Section) 143
25. Charts, Maps and Equipment Division 144
26. Library and Documentation Centre 144
27. RTI Cell 145
28. Parliament Section 145
29. Career Management 146
30. Organisation Methods and Coordination (OM&C) 147
31. Vigilance Cell 148

H. REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS BY NITI AAYOG IN 2018-19

NITI
A AYOG
AN
OVERVIEW
CONSTITUTION AND COMPOSITION OF NITI AAYOG
The National Institution for Transforming India, also called NITI Aayog, was formed via a resolution of the Union
Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India, providing
both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long term policies and programmes for the
Government of India, NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States.
The Governing Council of NITI, with The Prime Minister as its Chairman, comprises Chief Ministers of all States
and Lt. Governors of Union Territories (UTs).
NITI Aayog acts as the quintessential platform of the Government of India to bring States to act together in
national interest, and thereby fosters Cooperative Federalism.
On 7 June 2018, the Prime Minister approved the reconstitution of NITI Aayog to include Ex-officio members
and special invitees.

PRESENT COMPOSITION OF NITI AAYOG:

1. Chairperson :
Shri Narendra Modi, Prime Minister
2. Vice Chairperson :
Shri Rajiv Kumar
3. Full – Time Members :
i. Dr. Bibek Debroy
ii. Dr. V K Saraswat
iii. Prof. Ramesh Chand
iv. Dr. Vinod Kumar Paul
4. Ex-Officio Members :
i. Minister of Home Affairs – Shri Rajnath Singh
ii. Minister of Finance – Shri Arun Jaitley
iii. Minister of Railways – Shri Piyush Goyal
iv. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare – Shri Radha Mohan Singh
v. Minister of State (Planning) – Shri Rao Inderjit Singh
5. Special Invitees :
i. Minister of Road Transport and Highways – Shri Nitin Gadkari
ii. Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment – Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot
iii. Minister of Human Resource Development – Shri Prakash Javadekar

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OBJECTIVES & FUNCTIONS OF NITI AAYOG
• To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active
involvement of States
• To foster cooperative federalism through structured support initiatives and mechanisms with the States on
a continuous basis, recognizing that strong States make a strong nation.
• To develop mechanisms to formulate credible plans at the village level and aggregate these progressively
at higher levels of government.
• To ensure, on areas that are specifically referred to it, that the interests of national security are incorporated
in economic strategy and policy.
• To pay special attention to the sections of our society that may be at risk of not benefiting adequately from
economic progress.
• To design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks and initiatives, and monitor their
progress and their efficacy. The lessons learnt through monitoring and feedback will be used for making
innovative improvements, including necessary mid-course corrections.
• To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and international
like-minded Think tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions.
• To create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative community
of national and international experts, practitioners and other partners.
• To offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter¬ departmental issues in order to accelerate the
implementation of the development agenda.
• To maintain a state-of-the-art Resource Centre, be a repository of research on good governance and best
practices in sustainable and equitable development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holders.
• To actively monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and initiatives, including the
identification of the needed resources so as to strengthen the probability of success and scope of delivery.
• To focus on technology upgradation and capacity building for implementation of programmes and
initiatives.
• To undertake other activities as may be necessary in order to further the execution of the national
development agenda, and the objectives mentioned above.

FOSTER
COOPERATIVE
FEDERALISM

DESIGN MONITORING
POLICY &
PROGRAMME FUNCTIONS AND
EVALUATION
FRAMEWORK

ACT AS A
RESOURCE
CENTRE &
KNOWLEDGE
HUB

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NITI Aayog is also developing itself as a State of the Art Resource Centre, with the necessary resources,
knowledge and skills, that will enable it to act with speed, promote research and innovation, provide strategic
policy vision for the government, and deal with contingent issues.
NITI Aayog’s entire gamut of activities is divided into two main hubs-Team India Hub and Knowledge and
Innovation Hub. The two hubs are at the core of NITI’s efficient functioning. Team India Hub carries out the
mandate of fostering ‘Cooperative Federalism’ and ‘Designing Policy and Programme Frameworks’. It provides
requisite coordination and support framework to NITI Aayog in its engagement with the States. Knowledge &
Innovation Hub ensures fulfilling the mandate of maintaining a State-of-the-Art Resource Centre; to be a
repository of research of good governance and best practices and their dissemination to stakeholders; and to
provide advice and encourage partnerships across key stakeholders including colleges, universities, Think
Tanks and Non-Governmental Organizations at home and abroad.
Team India Hub consists of six verticals and Knowledge and Innovation Hub ten verticals. The list of verticals is as
below:
1. Administration, General Administration and Accounts
2. HRD, Governing Council Secretariat & Coordination
3. Agriculture & Allied Sectors
4. Data Management & Analysis
5. Governance and Research
6. Industry
7. Infrastructure-Energy, International Cooperation
8. Infrastructure-Connectivity
9. Natural Resources & Environment
10. Project Appraisal, Public Private Partnership and PIB
11. Rural Development & Sustainable Development Goals
12. State Coordination & Decentralized Planning
13. Science & Technology
14. Social Sector-I (Skill Development, Labour & Employment, Urban Development)
15. Social Sector-II (Health & Nutrition, Women & Child Development)
16. Social Justice and Empowerment

ADMINISTRATION & SUPPORT UNITS

The Administration in NITI Aayog functions in accordance with the service rules and extant Government of India
instructions issued by the nodal Department, i.e. Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT) on issues relating
to personnel management of employees working in the NITI Aayog. The Administration is concerned with all
aspects of service conditions of the Officers and Staff, viz. recruitment, promotion, postings, transfers,
retirement, deputation, Court cases relating to service matters, besides providing information under the RTI
Act on these matters. It is also entrusted with the responsibilities relating to Internship Scheme for students
pursuing Under Graduate/Graduate/Post Graduate Degrees or are Research Scholars enrolled in recognized
University/Institution within India or abroad.
Keeping in view, the mandate of NITI Aayog to function as a think tank, which requires greater flexibility in hiring
of personnel than was the case under the erstwhile Planning Commission, it is essential to have the
YPs/Consultants/Sr. Consultants who possess the requisite skill set. These Young Professionals/

4
Consultants/Sr. Consultants are expected to deliver in areas such as Economics, Finance, Education, Public
Health, Social Sciences, Engineering, Urban Planning, Infrastructure etc. as per the requirements of NITI
Aayog.
NITI Aayog had completed the process of engagement for the positions of 20 YPs, one Consultant/
Sr. Consultant with legal background, two Sr. Consultants (Strategy &Convergence) along with one Consultant
(Strategy & Convergence) and four Consultant/Sr. Consultants for A&N and Lakshadweep Administration and
one Consultant(Health) with Member Health. The process of engagement of one Consultant (Grade I) for FR
division, two Consultants for PAMD vertical and two Consultants for VC office are under way. To hire these
experts, under the guidelines for engagement of Consultants/Sr. Consultants/YPs, NITI Aayog invites online
applications, and the process of screening, shortlisting and conducting interview to identify suitable
candidates is completed in a time bound manner.
Consequent upon the recommendations of the Task Force Report and restructuring of NITI Aayog, the
amendment of Recruitment Rules for GCS posts is being carried out. NITI Aayog has already framed the
Recruitment Rules of KIH posts of Sr. Adviser/Adviser, Joint Adviser/Deputy Adviser, Senior Research
Officer/Research Officer /Economic Officer. Apart from this, Recruitment Rules of Adviser (Non-Discipline)
have also been notified in the Gazette of India. Consequent upon notification of the Recruitment Rules,
Administration Division has initiated the process of filling up of the vacancies in various grades. The selection
process of filling up the posts of Senior Adviser/Adviser (GCS) has been completed within NITI Aayog and
proposal for appointment of seven candidates recommended by the duly constituted Selection Committees
has been sent to DoPT for obtaining the approval of ACC thereon. Also DPC was held for personal
upgradation of three senior most eligible Joint Advisers to the post of Adviser (Non-discipline) and the proposal
has been moved for seeking the approval of ACC thereon. In addition, proposal has been initiated for
operationalization of Flexi Pool and filling up of the vacancies in this Pool.
The internship scheme initiated by NITI Aayog in 2016 continued in 2018-19. The internship scheme gives an
opportunity to the students to give them exposure to the functioning of the Indian Government by placing them
in various Verticals/Divisions within NITI Aayog. The Scheme seeks to engage students pursuing
Undergraduate/Graduate/Post-Graduate Degrees or Research Scholars enrolled in recognized university/
Institution within India or abroad, as interns. These interns are given exposure to various
Verticals/Divisions/Units within NITI Aayog and are expected to supplement the process of analysis within NITI
Aayog through empirical collection and collation of in-house and other information. For the Interns the
exposure to the functioning of the Indian Government may be an add-on in furthering their future interests.

5
OFFICES ATTACHED TO NITI AAYOG
Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO)
The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office was established in 2015 as a successor to the erstwhile
Programme Evaluation Office and Independent Evaluation Office. It is designed as an attached office of NITI
Aayog, in order to:
i. Monitor and evaluate schemes, policies and programmes of the Government of India
ii. Build monitoring and evaluation capacity and systems across the government, and
iii. Provide research input wherever relevant.
DMEO now comprises one of the largest teams of lateral entry professionals in GoI, making it a young and
dynamic force with the competence, capability and drive to initiate lasting accountability in the government
system.

DIRECTOR-GENERAL

DEPUTY JS
DIRECTORS GENERAL (ADMN & FINANCE)

RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, SENIOR RESEARCH

RESEARCH ASSISTANTS, OFFICERS, ECONOMIC
CONSULTANTS, YOUNG OFFICERS, ECONOMIC
PROFESSIONALS INVESTIGATORS

[Full report of activities by DMEO during 2018-19 is given in Section C – Monitoring & Evaluation]

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National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD)
The Government of India established the National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development
(NILERD) in 1962. It is a Central Autonomous Organization attached to NITI Aayog, Ministry of Planning.
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog presently serves as the President of its General Council, CEO,
Shri Amitabh Kant as the Chairperson of the Executive Council and Dr. Yogesh Suri is the Director General
(addl. charge) of NILERD. The primary objectives of this Institution include research and data collection in
relation to all major aspects of development, and education and training in all aspects of Human Capital
Planning, Human Resource Development and Monitoring and Evaluation.

[Full Report of activities by NILERD during 2018-19 is given in Section F – Think Tank Activities]

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister

Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has been constituted for a period of two years or
until further orders vide communication dated 26th September 2017. EAC-PM comprises of the following:
Dr. Bibek Debroy, Member, NITI Aayog - Chairman
Shri Ratan P. Watal, Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog - Member Secretary
Dr. Rathin Roy - Part-Time Member
Dr. Ashima Goyal - Part-Time Member
Dr. Shamika Ravi - Part-Time Member
The EAC-PM is embarked on several matters that influence the economy of the country. The Council has been
advising the Prime Minster on economic issues periodically. It has submitted the report on ‘Transforming India’s
Gold Market’ and is in the process of finalising the report of its Logistics Development Committee.
Other matters that are being examined by the EAC-PM include apiculture (Beekeeping) and agriculture
development, blue economy, gender and child budgeting, infrastructure financing, health/education/women &
child development, logistics development, review/merger of sector regulatory authorities, widening insurance
coverage, skill development & employment and trade development.

7
Policy &
Progr amme
Fr amework
 INTRODUCTION
NITI Aayog plays an integrative role with the active involvement of States, civil society and other think tanks, in the
development of a shared vision of national priorities and strategies in critical areas of human and economic
development.
One of the main objectives of NITI Aayog is, “to design strategic and long term policy and programme frameworks
and initiatives, and monitor their progress and their efficacy” and NITI is taking the lead in setting up sectoral targets
and fostering an environment of innovation and cooperation. The attempt is to bring innovation, technology, enterprise
and efficient management together at the core of policy formulation and implementation.
Two priority areas of this government in which NITI Aayog has played a huge role are health and nutrition. The National
Health Protection Scheme or Ayushman Bharat, which will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families providing
coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year; and the the Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic
Nourishment or POSHAN Abhiyaan, for improving nutritional outcomes for children, adolescents, pregnant women
and lactating mothers, are game changers, which are being run in mission mode.

NITI Aayog is also the anchor for POSHAN Abhiyaan, responsible for facilitating convergence among the
concerned ministries. Further, to provide policy, research and programmatic inputs for the POSHAN Abhiyaan,
a Technical Support Unit as well as the National Technical Board on Nutrition and Scientific Sub-Committee
have been constituted under the chairmanship of Member (Health and Nutrition), NITI Aayog. The National
Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges is chaired by the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

10
Unlocking potentials to rapidly transform the lives of people in the under-developed pockets of the country in
a time bound manner, the Aspirational Districts Programme, was launched by NITI Aayog in January 2018. It
identified 112 such districts across 27 States, in a transparent manner where a rapid transformation in the field
of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water management, financial inclusion and skill development
is currently underway.
NITI Aayog has also led consultations and created a policy environment that enables income security for farmers,
whilst maintaining India’s food security, like the introduction of the Model Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing
Act (2017), Model Contract Farming Act, new guidelines for the agro-forestry, amongst many others.
Charting out a new direction for a New India and in an attempt to keep India self-reliant and bring together
enterprise and efficient management, NITI Aayog has drafted new policies like the National Energy Policy and
the Mineral Policy, to support greater sustainability and higher economic growth.
A brief report of some of the initiatives in these areas are given below.

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 1. AGRICULTURE SECTOR REFORMS
Implementation of MSP for notified crops
NITI Aayog in consultation with Central Ministries and States developed a mechanism for implementation of
Minimum Support Price (MSP) for different agricultural crops. The consultation was held under the
chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog on 9 March, 2018.
Three concepts were discussed:
(i) Market Assurance Scheme (MAS)
(ii) Price Deficiency Procurement Scheme (PDPS)
(iii) Private Procurement and Stockists Scheme (PPSS)

As a follow-up to this initiative of NITI Aayog, M/o Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare launched Pradhan Mantri
Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PM-AASHA) in September 2018 including three mechanisms:
1. Price Support Scheme (PSS) or Market Assurance Scheme
2. Price Deficiency Payment Scheme
3. Pilot on Private Procurement Stockists Scheme

Model Act on Contract Farming

The Union Government provided, for the first time, an opportunity to the farmers to decide the price of their
produce and negotiate with buyers through Model Act on Contract Farming. The Model Act called as ‘The
----State/UT Agricultural Produce & Livestock Contract Farming and Services (Promotion & Facilitation) Act,
2018’ was formulated in consultation with NITI Aayog and launched by Union Agriculture Minister in a meeting
of State Agriculture Marketing Ministers on 22 May, 2018 for its adoption by the States/Union Territories (UTs).
The Model Act covers the entire value and supply chain from pre-production to post-harvest marketing
including services contract for the agricultural produce and livestock. There was unanimity among the States
to adopt this Model Act.

Business Model for Doubling of Farmers’ Income

NITI Aayog has constituted a task force on 3 January, 2018 to develop a new business model to relieve
farmers’ distress while implementing the pilot projects to demonstrate the doubling of farmers' income.
Initially 10 pilot projects in different agro-climatic regions of India, preferably through social entrepreneurs are
to be rolled out. The key principle is to make the effort market driven, encourage the application of science and
technology in agriculture production, minimize farmers’ risks and be based on the use of modern business
practices for value addition in agriculture sector.
The Task Force identified and studied existing successful business models in operation during the last three
to four years for upscaling based on four tiers for testing. Extensive consultations were held with the social
entrepreneurs and other stakeholders from private sector for scaling up their successful models. The final draft
has been submitted to the Chairman of the Task Force.

Agriculture Export Policy

The Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MoC&I) formulated a Draft Agriculture Export Policy, 2018 and
consulted NITI Aayog for appropriate inputs to finalise the draft document. In order to make the export policy
more comprehensive, the inputs from the NITI Aayog were provided to the MoC&I stating that Agricultural
Export Policy must contain a section on global export environment and emerging demand. It shows that the
world export of agriculture produces are increasing in volume but declining in value in recent years because
of fall in prices; global commodity prices have been falling since 2011. Projections for next 10 years are that
export volume will grow at a slower rate. This implies that exports are becoming more competitive globally.

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Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAM)
The Budget for 2018-19 has announced its intent to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats into
Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAMs). Toward this end an Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of
Rs.2000 crore has been set aside. These GrAMs, electronically linked to e-NAM and exempted from
regulations of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMCs), will provide facility to farmers to make direct
sale to consumers and bulk purchasers.

Model Act on Agricultural Land Leasing

NITI Aayog’s expert group suggested a Model Act on Agricultural Land Leasing in 2016 which was shared with
the Chief Ministers and the Chief Secretaries of the States in 2017 for enacting their own land leasing laws.
Eight Chief Ministers have responded positively to NITI Aayog’s Model Act.
Governments of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand have also modified their tenancy laws to promote land
leasing. Madhya Pradesh Assembly has passed Bhumiswami Evam Bataidar Ke Hiton Ka Sanrakshan
Vedheyak, 2016 for agricultural land leasing.

Special package for drought mitigation in Bundelkhand Region:

Fund Allocation
The Union Cabinet approved a special package for drought mitigation in Bundelkhand Region on 19

Animal Husbandry & Rural Drinking Water

Dairy, 3% Supply, 3%

Water Resource Sector,

24%

Agriculture, 27%

~70% allocation to
Water positive
Interventions

Environment and
Forest, 4%
Watershed
Management, 39%

November 2009 at a cost of Rs.7466 crore. Out of Rs. 7466 crore, Rs. 3149.48 crore released to Madhya
Pradesh (MP) and Rs. 3107.87 crore to Uttar Pradesh (UP) till FY 2017-18. On 29 March 2018, Rs. 917.20
crore to UP and Rs. 359.53 crore to MP has been released as one time special grants. About 70% allocation
under package were made for water positive activities and projects.

13
The Advisory Committee constituted in NITI Aayog, met on 11 September, 2018 under the chairmanship of
Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. Members of Parliament of Bundelkhand Region (MPs) participated in the meeting.
While appreciating the outcomes of the package, the members suggested making the project more
participatory and aligned to protect the natural flow of water.

[More on Agriculture Reforms see Section G - Sectoral Objectives & Achievements]

2. REFORMS IN NUTRITION
The Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition or POSHAN Abhiyaan or National Nutrition
Mission, is Government of India’s flagship programme to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant
women and lactating mothers. Launched by the Prime Minister on the occasion of the International Women’s
Day on 8 March, 2018 from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, the POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for
Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan directs the attention of the country towards the problem of malnutrition and address
it in a mission-mode.

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NITI Aayog has played a critical role in shaping the POSHAN Abhiyaan. The National Nutrition Strategy,
released by NITI Aayog in September, 2017 presented a micro analysis of the problems persisting within this
area and chalked out an in-depth strategy for course correction. Most of the recommendations presented in
the Strategy document have been subsumed within the design of the POSHAN Abhiyaan and now that the
Abhiyaan is launched, NITI Aayog has been entrusted with the task of closely monitoring the POSHAN
Abhiyaan and undertaking periodic evaluations.
With the overarching aim to build a people’s movement (Jan Andolan) around malnutrition, POSHAN Abhiyaan
intends to significantly reduce malnutrition in the next three years.
For implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan the four point strategy/pillars of the mission are:
(i) Inter-sectoral convergence for better service delivery
(ii) Use of technology (ICT) for real time growth monitoring and tracking of women and children
(iii) Intensified health and nutrition services for the first 1000 days
(iv) Jan Andolan

As a part of its mandate, NITI Aayog is required to submit implementation status reports of POSHAN Abhiyaan
every six months to the PMO. The first bi-annual report was prepared and presented at third National Nutrition
Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges (which is housed within NITI) in November 2018.
The task of implementation of POSHAN Abhiyaan is to be carried out through the Technical Support Unit (TSU)
established at NITI Aayog which, in addition to the M&E, will also provide research, policy and technical
support to the Abhiyaan.

POSHAN Maah
Month of September 2018 was celebrated as Rashtriya POSHAN Maah. The activities in POSHAN Maah
focussed on Social Behavioural Change and Communication (SBCC). The broad themes were: antenatal
care, optimal breastfeeding (early and exclusive), complementary feeding, anaemia, growth monitoring, girls’ -
education, diet, right age of marriage, hygiene and sanitation, eating healthy - food fortification.

15
 More than 12.2 Crore women, 6.2 Crore men and over 13 Crore children (male and female) were reached
through the various activities undertaken during POSHAN Maah. It is worth mentioning that 30.6 Crore people
were reached in 30 days. POSHAN Maah has given a major impetus to the Abhiyaan.

National Nutrition Council on India’s Nutrition Challenges

As per the mandate of Government of India, MoWCD has constituted the National Council on India’s Nutritional
Challenges under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog with the following objectives:
• To provide policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated
inter-sectoral action
• To coordinate and review convergence among ministries
• To review programmes for nutrition on a quarterly basis

The key role of the Council is also to coordinate and review convergence among Ministries for providing policy
directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges through coordinated inter-sectorial action.

The National Council established under POSHAN Abhiyaan has met thrice in 2018: April, July and November.
The main issues initiated by NITI Team and finalized during the Council meetings include:
• To provide holistic approach, all 36 States/UTs and 718 districts will be covered in a phased manner
by the year 2020.
• To include 315 districts in phase I and 268 additional districts to be covered in phase II of POSHAN
Abhiyaan.
• Finalization of “Package of interventions to be provided during the first 1,000 days of child’s life”
• Outlined the POSHAN Maah Celebration Framework during September 2018
• Food Fortification of staple food

National Technical Board of Nutrition (NTBN)

As per the mandate of Government of India, MoWCD has constituted National Technical Board of Nutrition
(NTBN) under the Chairmanship of Dr. V.K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, to provide technical, responsive and
evidence based recommendations on the policy relevant issues in concerning Nutrition for women and children.

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National Technical Board of Nutrition (NTBN)
As per the mandate of Government of India, MoWCD has constituted National Technical Board of Nutrition
(NTBN) under the Chairmanship of Dr. V.K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, to provide technical, responsive and
evidence based recommendations on the policy relevant issues in concerning Nutrition for women and children.

The role of the board is advisory and specific in terms of synthesis of technical, analysis and evidence based
recommendations, responsive to the local context.
NTBN was formulated with the following objectives:
(i) To make technical recommendations on the policy relevant issues in concerning Nutrition for women
and children.
(ii) To advise the States/UTs on preventive measures (including behaviour change) and management of
SAM children.
(iii) To coordinate the collation, synthesis of existing scientific and operational research, identify research
gaps and make technical recommendations for the research agenda.
(iv) To provide technical guidance on the design of nutrition surveys proposed by States/UTs, other
sectors and institutions and their coherence with ongoing National Health and other surveys.
(v) Formulation of India specific growth indicators including stunting.
(vi) Any other issue which may be referred to the Board by the MWCD.
NTBN is supported by the Scientific Sub Committee (SSC), co-chaired by Secretary, Department of Bio
Technology (DBT) and Secretary, Department of Health Research (DHR). SSC-NTBN has been formulated
with the objective of giving technical recommendations to NTBN and to identify the research gaps for setting
up of potential research agenda. Also, to examine malnutrition related challenges such as high prevalence of
anaemia, diarrhoea etc. its causes and potential interventions.
The Board has met twice till now. The Second Board meeting of the National Technical Board of Nutrition to
discuss India’s Nutrition issues was held in August 2018.
The NTBN has examined and finalized the following Guidelines:
(i) Operational Guidelines on prevention of malnutrition and community based management of severe
acute malnutrition (c-MAM)
(ii) Operational Guidelines on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF).

17
3. HEALTH SECTOR REFORMS
Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)
The National Health Policy 2017 envisages creation of a digital health technology eco-system aiming at
developing an integrated health information system that serves the needs of all stakeholders and improves
efficiency, transparency and citizens’ experience with linkage across public and private healthcare.

Ayushman Bharat comprising twin missions is set to transform the nation’s health system by:
i. Operationalizing 1.5 lakh health and wellness centers offering preventive and primary care, on the
supply side;
ii. Offering financial protection of up to 5 lakhs per year per family for the deprived 10 crores plus
households towards secondary and tertiary care, on the demand side.
NITI Aayog has actively contributed significantly and in close coordination with MoFHW on the
conceptualization and design of the Ayushman Bharat Scheme 2018 in the following ways.
• Extensive peer review of Health Benefit packages for PMJAY. 1352 packages were recommended
with revisions in 246 (18.3%) packages besides adding new packages such as Emergency Room
packages and Mental Care packages, etc. These rationalized packages have been adopted in toto.
• Suggested measures for incentivising healthcare quality and service uptake in Aspirational districts
• Development of Standard Treatment Workflow and Costing for Health Benefit Packages: To evolve a
decision making pathway leading to placement of Standard Treatment Guidelines as well as to
generate evidence for costing of benefit packages,
• Guiding and overseeing the costing studies carried out by DHR HTA for the commonly utilized packages.
• Holding consultations with various stakeholders and developing way forward strategies titled ‘Building
Safeguards and System Fencing Against Opportunistic Malpractice’ in Ayushman Bharat: Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)

Building IT Infrastructure for Ayushman Bharat

Through Ayushman Bharat, the Indian government has significantly stepped up its financial commitment in
public healthcare. It is equally important to build a national digital infrastructure as an integral part of the
program design to enable supply-side readiness. The National Health Stack (NHS) prepared by Member NITI
Aayog, is a set of building blocks which are essential in implementing digital health initiatives.

18

SDG INDIA INDEX

The PM-RSS Mission provides the right opportunity to build such an infrastructure. For this a two track
approach was adopted. The first track aims to pave the way for the launching the scheme whilst the second
track is to deliver an application of requisite national standards to ensure interoperability culminating in the
creation of a National Health Stack.
The NHS will be “built for NHPS but designed beyond NHPS” as an enabler for rapid development of diverse
solutions in health and their adoption by states.
The NHS consultation document has been uploaded on the NITI website website for wider stakeholder
consultation.

Reforms in the Medical Council of India

The draft National Medical Commission Bill that proposed replacing the Medical Council of India with the new
National Medical Commission, was approved by the Union Cabinet. The draft bill was examined by a Group
of Ministers (GoM) and was sent to the Cabinet after finalization. The bill was later amended with the
recommendations of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health & Family Welfare before it was
approved by the Union Cabinet.

Reforms in Homeopathy Central Council Act and the Indian Medicine Central Council Act
A Committee under the Chairmanship of the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, and comprising the Additional
Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, CEO, NITI Aayog and Secretary, Aayush was constituted with a mandate
to examine the legal provisions and modalities of working of the Homeopathy Central Council Act and the
Indian Medicine Central Council Act and to suggest necessary reforms.
The Committee recommended the draft National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH) Bill, 2018, National
Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2018 and National Commission for Yoga & Naturopathy Bill,
2018 in keeping with the philosophy enunciated in the NMC Bill.

Reforms in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device sector:

(i) Pharmaceutical pricing reforms: NITI Aayog submitted a detailed report examining the proposed
amendments in Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 and revamping the functioning of NLEM, to the
Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), highlighting the concerns and suggesting a go forward roadmap.
(ii) Trade Margin Rationalisation: NITI put up a consultation paper on its official website inviting public
comments on ‘Rationalisation of Trade Margins for Medical Devices’, wherein it received responses
from different actors and stakeholders in the domain. The responses are under consideration.
(iii) Universal and Expeditious adoption of GMPs: NITI Aayog lead a process on ‘universal and expeditious
adoption of GMPs’ with the DIPP, DoP, MSME and DoHFW and explored the possibility of a suitable
scheme to incentivize the industries for switching over to GMPs’. Its recommendations have been
submitted and are under consideration.
(iv) Effective Implementation of Sugam Portal: NITI Aayog after due consultations with DoP and Drug
Controller General of India (DCGI), decided to incorporate submission of data with respect to licensed
manufacturing units and drugs by self-declaration by the manufacturers on the SUGAM portal.
Accordingly, an amendment in the Drugs & Cosmetics Rule was considered by MoHFW and a draft
notification was also issued on 11th July 2018 for soliciting public comments.
(v) Streamlining the process of approval of new drug regulation: The process of approval of new drug
regulation requires recommendation of different committee viz. Review committee of Genetic
Manipulation (RCGM) under DBT, Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) under MoEF
&CC, ICMR, Bio-safety, etc. In pursuance of the decision taken at NITI, key actions have been initiated
by relevant Ministries/ Departments of GoI.

19
 (vi) Incentivizing manufacturing of Medical Devices in India: NITI Aayog chaired a meeting of Committee of
Secretaries to discuss ‘Incentivizing manufacturing of Medical Devices in India’ under four broad
categories viz. Regulations & Governance, Standards & Certifications, Infrastructure & Ecosystem and
Duties & Tariffs.
(vii) Standards and Certifications: The matter of Standards and Certifications has been taken up separately
by NITI Aayog to give a fillip to ‘Make in India’ in medical devices. It will ensure that the medical devices
that are manufactured, sold, procured and imported in the country conform to internationally
benchmarked standards.

4. REFORMS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

NITI Aayog, in close collaboration with the Department of Higher Education, UGC and AICTE, played a key role
in identifying challenges and designing reforms in higher education regulatory frameworks.

• Performance-based graded autonomy: The government was keen on providing greater autonomy
to institutions, and to do so through regulations keeping in view past obstacles involved in legislative
routes. A graded autonomy framework was thus designed, under which universities above a specified
threshold of quality shall be given greater academic, administrative and financial autonomy, based on
their accreditation scores or ranks. Over 60 universities have already been declared autonomous
under the new regulations. On similar lines, improved regulations were notified for autonomous
colleges.
• Permitting fully online programs, to enable access to quality higher education beyond
geographical barriers: The new UGC regulations permit well-performing higher education
institutions to offer degree and diploma programs in full-fledged online mode.
• Strengthening accreditation framework to increase its coverage and credibility: The new
UGC regulations would enable additional agencies, including third-party agencies, to accredit higher
education institutions. Further, all accreditation reports shall be made public online for transparency.
Prominent display of accreditation grade/ unaccredited status on institutions’ websites and all public
information material has been made mandatory.

20
5. MINERAL SECTOR REFORMS
NITI Aayog has played an active role in the framing of the draft “National Mineral Policy-2018” for which
widespread consultations were held with Ministry of Mines.
NITI Aayog constituted two Committees on 12 June 2018, with a focus on conversion of mineral waste to
wealth, namely:
(a) Expert Committee for effective utilization of Fly Ash under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Ministry
of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has been constituted and the recommendations are to be
submitted by December 2018 to NITI Aayog.
(b) Expert Committee for effective utilization of Slag under the Chairmanship of Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Steel has been constituted and the recommendations are to be submitted by December 2018 to
NITI Aayog.

Achieving Self-reliance in Critical Strategic Resources of Rare Earths

Rare Earths (RE) are important resources for use in high-tech applications in various strategic sectors such as
defence, atomic energy, space, oil, green energy, electronics etc. India has significant Rare Earths primary &
secondary resources. However, India has not been able to achieve self sufficiency inspite of being in this
domain since 1950s and is still dependent on the import of these resources.
Therefore, an Expert Committee was constituted by NITI Aayog on 17 August 2015 to evolve a strategy for
self-reliance and develop a road map to combat restrictive trade practices and harness the availability of
domestic and global resources. The committee has submitted its key recommendations in a report to the
National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) which has accepted it and now a draft cabinet note is under
preparation by NITI Aayog.

As a part of the execution of the report recommendations, NITI Aayog has constituted seven sub-committees
on 17 October 2017, namely,
(a) Committee for Overseas Acquisition of RE resources.
(b) Committee for Augmenting & Updating RE Resources.
(c) Committee for Establishing Technologies for RE Extraction from Fly Ash.
(d) Committee for Establishing Technologies for RE Extraction from Red Mud.
(e) Committee for Strengthening Re-cycling of E-Waste.
(f) Committee for Establishing the Prospects of RE Conversion to Magnets.
(g) Committee for Creation of an Agency to Promote RE industry in India.

These seven committees are holding consultations with the stake holders, CII and other partners and are in
the final phase of preparing the reports. This division has organized 20 meetings / consultations on the above
seven committee for drawing inputs from the stake holders.

6. ENERGY SECTOR REFORMS

The President of India, in his address to the Parliament on 9 June, 2014, had declared the intention of the
Government to come out with a new national energy policy. Thereafter, the drafting of National Energy Policy
was initiated at NITI Aayog. The draft of the policy was prepared after interaction with line ministries, leading
economists and followed by various workshops/conferences organised in consultation with knowledge
partners, as well as public consultations. The draft National Energy Policy (NEP) 2018 has been circulated
amongst the ministries for inter-ministerial consultation.
The NEP charts out a direction for India’s energy future keeping in mind the objectives of increased

21
 accessibility of energy, enhanced energy independence, greater sustainability and higher economic growth.
These four objectives do not necessarily move in harmony with each other; hence the country should strive to
arrive at a suitable balance in achieving them. To the traditional energy trilemma that centres on energy
security, energy equity (accessibility and affordability) and environmental sustainability, the NEP also adds a
fourth dimension of economic growth. The energy policy lays maximum emphasis on use of renewable
energy, while parallely investing in research and development to bring down the cost of storage and address
the issue of seasonality. Biogas along with bio fuels and ethanol will have to be an integral part of this strategy.
The draft energy policy aims to promote functioning of energy sector on market based framework, greater
competition through de-regulation, private sector partnership, separation of carrier and content business and
marketing reforms.

7. TRANSFORMING ASPIRATIONAL DISTRICTS

To rapidly transform the lives of people in the under-developed pockets of the country in a time bound manner,
the Aspirational Districts Programme was launched in January 2018. Anchored in NITI, the programme is
based on the core principle of ‘Sabkaa Sath Sabkaa Vikas’ i.e. ‘development for all’.

112 such districts across 27 States have been identified in a transparent manner where a rapid transformation
in the field of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water management, financial inclusion and skill
development is currently underway.
There are three core aspects that frame the structure of the programme:
• Convergence (of Central & State Schemes)
• Collaboration (of Central, State-level ‘Prabhari’ Officers & District Collectors)
• Competition among districts
States are the main drivers and district magistrates make the fulcrum, on whom the whole programme rests.
Experienced officials of the Government of India at the rank of Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary have been
appointed as ‘Guardians’ (or ‘Prabharis’) for a district. These Prabhari Officers make regular visits to their
respective districts and provide guidance to the district administration. Additionally, an empowered committee
has been set up comprising Secretaries to the Government of India, which meets at regular intervals under the
chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog to identify key constraints and challenges in the sectors under focus and
make suitable recommendations w.r.t. policy and funding.

22
The Aspirational Districts Programme aspires to drive development and enhance credibility of policy
interventions through data monitoring and analysis.
‘Champions of Change’, a real-time monitoring dashboard, launched in April 2018, has been developed to
capture data on 49 indicators having 81 data-points, covering focus sectors in this programme. This 24x7
web based application is dynamic in nature and calculates the delta ranking of performance of the district over
the previous period. NITI Aayog released a baseline ranking in April 2018 and a composite delta ranking in
June 2018. The idea is to promote competition among the district teams so that they strive for rapid
transformation and improved rankings.

In order to maintain the credibility of the data entered in the dashboard, the programme envisaged third party
data validation. Tata Trusts and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations, through ID Insight have volunteered to
carry out the task. They have placed enumerators in districts who would work with the district teams in
frequent validation of key data points.
The programme has successfully turned development into a mass movement facilitated by Governments at
different levels. This has also emerged as a template for focussed and effective intervention by State and
Central Government. This was seen during successful implementation of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan. Under it,
measures were taken to saturate all villages in these aspirational districts having 1000+ population, under
seven pro-poor schemes (PM Ujjwala Yojana, PM Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, Ujala Scheme, PM Jan-Dhan
Yojana, PM Jeevan-Jyoti Bima Yojana and PM Suraksha Bima Yojana) in a time bound manner starting from
1st June 2018 and ending on the 15 August 2018. Nearly 750 officers of the centre were put on the ambitious
job of saturating almost 49,000 villages in 117 ‘aspirational districts’.
During the period, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare launched the Krishi Kalyan Abhiyaan from
1st June, 2018 till 31st July, 2018 in 25 villages of every aspirational district so as to aid, assist and advice
farmers on how to improve their farming techniques and raise their incomes.
Considering the fact that aspirational districts are pockets of under-development deserving priority attention of
the centre and State Governments, Central Ministries are treating these districts as high priority districts and
review meeting to address challenges are being undertaken at State and central levels. As such, currently,
special programmes/activities within the overall programmatic intervention by Central Ministries have been
launched in these districts.

23
 These measures have resulted in rapid progress in key indicators such as institutional delivery, electrification
of rural households, immunization, timely distribution of text books in schools, drinking water and sanitation
etc. Progress in these key sectors in aspirational district is a pre-requisite not only for maintaining a high rate
of sustainable and inclusive growth, it is also necessary for dramatic improvement in India’s human
development index and achievement of Sustainable Development Goals. Substantial progress in key
performance indicators under this programme will go a long way in realising the vision of New India 2022
articulated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

Prime Minister interacting with children in Bijapur, Chhattisgarh on April 14, 2018, an aspirational district which has shown rapid
transformation in different sectors.

8. TRANSFORMING INDIA’S GOLD MARKET

A Committee on Transforming India’s Gold Market was constituted by NITI Aayog under the Chairmanship of
Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog, to recommend measures for tapping into the potential of the gold market in India
to provide a stimulus to exports, economic growth and employment.

24
The committee brought together diverse stakeholders from across the gold ecosystem, including
representation from concerned Ministries/ Departments of the Government of India, RBI, industry associations
and academia, to look into various aspects of India’s gold market.
The Committee had in-depth consultations with a wider group of stakeholders, through sub-groups formed on
distinct themes pertaining to the gold market. It also deliberated upon the current status of the gold market as
well as its issues, challenges and opportunities and strategic policy impetus required to improve exports,
generate employment, expand outreach of gold monetization scheme and boost domestic supply of gold. The
report was finalized and submitted to the government for consideration in February 2018.
The major recommendations of this committee are structured into five key focus areas. These are
(a) Make in India in Gold
(b) Financialisation of Gold
(c) Tax and Duty Structure
(d) Regulatory Infrastructure
(e) Skill Development & Technology Upgradation
A presentation on the report was also made before the RBI Governor in May 2018. This was subsequently
followed by a meeting with various stakeholders in August 2018 to ensure effective and timely implementation
of the Committee’s recommendations.
This report provides a robust foundation for realising the policy intent stated in the Union Budget (2018-19)
presented by the Hon’ble Finance Minister, in developing a comprehensive Gold Policy, in order to develop
gold as an asset class. This will pave the way for realising the transformational potential of India’s Gold Market.

25
Monitoring
&
Evaluation
 INTRODUCTION
Evidence based policy making should be integral to the overall governance structure in New India. To achieve
this, it is important to be able to track performance, determine outcomes to understand how well a scheme is
performing, and to help diagnose reasons for poor performance and generate recommendations for course
corrections.
This requires not only collecting data but putting in place proper frameworks with measurable parameters to
help strengthen the effective management of limited public resources and achieve a deeper and broader
impact of scheme interventions.
Driving accountability in governance through proper monitoring and evaluation is the attached office to NITI –
the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), along with other Verticals of NITI Aayog in their
respective areas of work.
Focusing on effective management and better outcomes backed by data analysis, NITI Aayog has developed
a number of social sector indexes and dashboards. The Composite Water Management Index is the result of
a first of its kind, water data collection exercise, and cooperative federalism. Prepared in partnership with all
States, UTs and concerned Central Ministries/Departments, going forward it will enable them to formulate and
implement suitable strategies for better management of water resources.
SDGs call for a constant review of the progress made, without which we cannot effectively map our path
towards realising the Goals. Thus, the SDG India Index: Baseline Report 2018 has been prepared by NITI to
highlight the progress being made by States and Union Territories and the distances still to be covered.
This section of the report gives details of the monitoring and evaluation tools and exercises developed by NITI
to map our progress on national and international development goals.

28
1. DEVELOPMENT MONITORING AND EVALUATION OFFICE (DMEO)
DMEO’s major projects in 2018-2019 have included the Output-Outcome Monitoring Framework 2018-2019,
the Prime Minister’s Sectoral Review, quick assessment field visits and providing comments on scheme
appraisal and continuation documents.

Output Outcome Monitoring Framework (OOMF)

To strengthen outcome-based monitoring across government of India, the DMEO team undertook a rigorous
process to improve the Output-Outcome Framework (OOF) from 2017-2018 to 2018-2019. The aim of the
OOMF exercise was to help strengthen the effective management of limited public resources and achieve a
deeper and broader impact of scheme interventions.
The framework put in place nearly 5000 output and outcome indicators across over 600 outlays, for Central
Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes across Government of India. CS/CSS schemes form the primary
mode of government service delivery to beneficiaries, covering Rs. 12.37 lakh crores out of the total budget
estimated expenditure of Rs. 24.42 lakh crores in 2018-2019. By juxtaposing this financial outlay with
quantitative measurements of scheme performance, it is expected that more judicious use and greater
accountability can be encouraged.
Once performance data is received on the dashboard, it can be analysed along with additional input, to
determine whether a scheme is low-performing or high-performing, to help diagnose reasons for poor
performance and to generate recommendations for course corrections.
Since March 2018, the team has been working with 68 Ministries and Departments on:
a) Developing a deeper understanding of outputs and outcomes
b) Setting quantitative targets for measurable output and outcome indicators
c) Training and troubleshooting for operation of the online dashboard
d) Collecting scheme performance data for FY19
Through the year, the team has also worked extensively on building technical capacity of the online
dashboard, allowing for API linkage with existing online Ministry MISs.
In May 2018, DMEO organized workshops to familiarize and train the representatives of
ministries/departments on accessing and updating the Outcome Budget Dashboard 2018-2019. The
workshop saw 281 representatives from 63 Ministries/departments participate.

Sectoral Review Dashboard

The Sectoral Review Dashboard maintained by DMEO collects quarterly data on 14 infrastructure sectors and
two social sectors, to be reviewed by the Prime Minister. It also tracks action points emerging from previous
reviews, as per the minutes released by the Prime Minister’s Office. Action taken reports provided by the
concerned nodal Ministries are synthesized for use by the PMO.
This process is unique because of its sector-level focus, which transcends Ministry silos and, in many cases,
includes private sector performance. It facilitates convergence by tracking indicators and action points that are
cross-ministerial in nature. It prevents such thematic areas from suffering the tragedy of the commons, by
assigning responsibility and accountability to nodal Ministries in charge of a particular sector.
For the target setting exercise with Ministries for the Financial Year 2018-2019 review presentations were
prepared in consultation with the concerned verticals and Ministries and delivered before the Principal
Secretary to the PM. After feedback, the presentations were further refined before being presented to the
Prime Minister. Further, as a part of the Sector Review process, a target setting exercise was conducted with
Ministries, and the sectoral targets for Financial Year 2018-2019 were finalised.

29
 Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana Dashboard
DMEO manages a dashboard tracking monthly progress of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban and Rural) for
the Prime Minister’s Office. This dashboard has now been linked through APIs to Ministry MISs and automated
data fetching is taking place.

Scheme Appraisals
DMEO has provided input to 177 schemes between April and December 2018, in order to systematically
strengthen their internal Management Information Systems and data collection mechanisms. Through the
EFC/SFC/PIB/DIB appraisal process, for every scheme DMEO outlines outputs, outcomes and their
measurable indicators, helping Ministries establish what they should be measuring at the scheme level.
Recommendations are also made regarding the mapping of clear scheme logic chains, data collection
mechanisms, assumptions and attribution etc.

Quick Assessment Field Visits

Electronic National Agricultural Mandi Scheme: Through March and April 2018, the DMEO team visited 28
agricultural mandis in 8 States, conducting over 150 interactions with stakeholders including State officials,
implementing partners and beneficiaries. This was done to observe the variations in the mode of
implementation of the scheme, asses the key bottlenecks, if any, and potential solutions for improved efficacy
of the scheme with respect to its objectives. A draft report and summary note have been prepared based on
the findings.

A note on observations, challenges identified and suggested intervention is being submitted to the Depart-
ment of Agricultural Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.

30
Pilot visits were also conducted for eight more schemes as per the map below:

Evaluation Studies
DMEO undertakes process, output, outcome and impact evaluations for GoI schemes or programmes based
on requests from line ministries, NITI top management, PMO and other competent authorities. Currently, the
following evaluations are underway:
i. Process and Outcome evaluation of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana
ii. Evaluation of Decentralized Procurement of Wheat and Paddy
iii. Evaluation of National Scheduled Caste Finance Development Corporation
iv. Evaluation of Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship schemes across target groups
Additionally, DMEO also provides technical inputs to line ministries in the process of developing Terms of
Reference for the evaluation studies they commission.
Other initiatives:
(a) Four year achievement notes for 15 major schemes and two sectors have been prepared and
submitted to CEO, NITI Aayog.
(b) Notes on performance analysis of 19 major schemes for the financial year 2017-18 were developed
and submitted to CEO, NITI Aayog.
(c) Training on monitoring and evaluation was provided by DMEO staff to an international delegation from
20+ countries, as a part of a certificate training course conducted by NILERD.
(d) The Breathe India Action Plan for Air Pollution was released in July 2018.
(e) Detailed input has been provided to the Office of the Registrar-General of India on the Questionnaire
for Census 2021, aimed at improving the availability of disaggregated data for estimation of scheme
universes, particularly on classifications of economic activity, disability, mobility etc.

31
 (f) A team from DMEO was sent to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to assess the utilization of funds
provided under Special Development Package, for an Inspection Report submitted to PMO.
(g) To develop the spirit of continuous learning with professional and intellectual curiosity, a number of
internal skill-building workshops have been conducted.

2. KEY PERFORMANCE INDEXES

In pursuit of cooperative and competitive federalism, NITI Aayog has been laying emphasis on developing
indicators on various social sectors, like water, education, nutrition, as well as for monitoring the progress of
Sustainable Development Goals.

Composite Water Management Index

Keeping in view the criticality of water for life and the need to monitor its efficient usage, NITI Aayog prepared
a report on Composite Water Management Index (CWMI), which was released on 14 June 2018 by Shri Nitin
Gadkari, Minister of Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources and Dr. Rajiv
Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

The CWMI is an important tool to assess and improve the performance of States/ Union Territories in efficient
management of water resources. This has been done through a first of its kind, water data collection exercise,
in partnership with Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation and all the States/
Union Territories. The index provides useful information for the States and also for the concerned Central
Ministries/Departments enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for better management
of water resources.
CWMI comprises nine broad sectors with 28 different indicators covering various aspects of ground water,
restoration of water bodies, irrigation, farm practices, drinking water, policy and governance (Figure 1).
For the purposes of analysis, the reporting states were divided into two special groups – ‘North Eastern and
Himalayan states’ and ‘Other States’, to account for the different hydrological conditions across these groups.
The data for the 28 key performance indicators were uploaded by the States on the online web portal. Later,
the data was validated by the Independent Validating agency-IPE Global against the data compiled at the
Centre, annual reports available in the public domain, government orders, supporting documents submitted
by the States and through visits to the states.
Round II of the National workshop on CWMI was held on 21 August 2018, under the chairmanship of the
CEO, NITI Aayog. The states have initiated the uploading of data sets on web portal and 25 states/UTs have
already uploaded the data on portal.

32
Figure 1: Nine Broad Sectors of the Composite Water Management Index

Participatory
irrigation practices -
Whatershed Demand side Sustainable on-farm
development - management water use practices
Supply side - Demand side
management management

Major and medium Rural

irrigation - Supply drinking
side management Water

Source Urban water

augmentation supply &
(Groundwater) sanitaion

CWMI
Source
augmentation Policy and
and restoration of governance
waterbodies

School Education Quality Index (SEQI)

The goal of the School Education Quality Index (SEQI) is to institutionalize a focus on improving education
outcomes (learning, access, equity) in India.
IN 2018, SEQI indicators were revised as a complete subset of MHRD’s Performance Grading Index (PGI).
The objective is to shift the focus to educational outcomes rather than inputs and programs alone, encourage
State-led innovation in a cost-effective manner, influence policy approaches to improve outcomes, and
facilitate sharing of best practices across States and UTs.
From September 2018 to November 2018, three workshops (third round) were conducted with all States/UTs
in order to inform them of the revised indicators of SEQI and to obtain final data sets from them.
The first ranking report is expected soon. More information and the guidebook on SEQI is available on
www.social.niti.gov.in

Index of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs)

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs), one in each district (in select large districts two) are the only gateway of front line
technology dissemination at district level in agriculture. It is 100% funded by the government of India through
a central sector scheme implemented by ICAR.
KVKs are important both in terms of financing and also the delivery. In the past the KVKs were subjected to
too much experimentation. The additional responsibilities and activities have affected their core activities
related to refinement and dissemination of the technologies and capacity building of farmers and trainers.
KVKs, need regular monitoring.
Agriculture Vertical developed a performance monitoring index to measure performance of KVKs as
institutions of frontline extension against select indicators in consultation with ICAR. The index comprises 20
indicators divided among four sub-heads, namely, capacity building & training, technology assessment and
dissemination, sustainable agriculture, and infrastructure, administrative & reporting.

Ease of Doing Agriculture Index

A draft index to measure status of agriculture friendliness among states has been prepared by NITI Aayog. The
objective of the Index is to rank the states on the basis of their friendliness towards agriculture sector as

33
 reflected in measures taken towards making farming an attractive business proposition particularly for the
farmer in the State. The indicators are categorised into the sub-indices related States’ Investment in
Agriculture & Allied Sectors, Land and water, Raising Productivity, Farmers income catalysts, Reforms for
Modernisation, Infrastructure Development, and Risk Management.
The index is currently being revised in the light of recent developments in the agriculture sector.

SDG India Index

India played a prominent role in the formulation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda 2030
and much of the country’s National Development Agenda is mirrored in the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs). The progress of the world to meet the SDGs largely depends on India’s progress. However, with 17
Goals, 169 Targets and 306 National indicators, the SDGs might be difficult to grasp and understand, and
defining and measuring success poses a challenge.
While countries around the world have been considering how to implement and measure success against the
Goals, NITI Aayog has taken the lead by bringing out the SDG India Index – Baseline Report 2018, and
showing how SDGs will be measured in India. The NITI Aayog released the Baseline Report of the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDG) India Index, which comprehensively documents the progress made by India’s
States and Union Territories towards implementing the 2030
SDG targets.
NITI Aayog has constructed the SDG India Index spanning
across 13 out of 17 SDGs (leaving out Goals 12, 13, 14 and
17). The Index tracks the progress of all the States and Union SDG INDIA
Territories (UTs) on a set of 62 National Indicators, measuring INDEX
BASELINE REPORT, 2018
their progress on the outcomes of the interventions and
schemes of the Government of India. The SDG India Index is
intended to provide a holistic view on the social, economic
and environmental status of the country and its States and
UTs.
The SDG India Index is an aggregate measure which can be
understood and used by everyone—policymakers,
businesses, civil society and the general public. It has been
designed to provide an aggregate assessment of the
performance of all Indian States and UTs, and to help leaders
and change makers evaluate their performance on social,
economic and environmental parameters. It aims to measure
India and its States’ progress towards the SDGs for 2030.

34
Key features of SDG India Index, 2018
Guided by MoSPI’s National Indicator Framework and based on consultations with Central
Ministries/Departments and States/UTs, NITI Aayog has constructed a list of Sixty two priority indicators for
computation of the SDG India Index after extensive discussions with 38 Central Ministries and Departments
and States and UTs. Being the baseline report, this report does not consider time series comparison of data.
As a result, the SDG India Index tells us where a State/UT currently stands on each of the indicators
considered, and will present incremental change in subsequent versions.

NITI Aayog 62 Priority Indicators

Consultation

38 Central
MOSPI
Ministries
36 State/UT Govts.

The SDG India Index 2018 report provides critical insights on the status of SDGs in the country even though
it may not be a comprehensive representation of overall baseline since it is constrained by limited data
availability. As data availability improves and new estimation techniques become available, subsequent reports
of SDG India Index will become more comprehensive with additional indicators, and also help to measure
incremental progress. Despite these gaps and limitations, the SDG Index can be useful to States/UTs in
assessing their starting point on the SDGs in the following ways:

35
 • Support States/UTs to benchmark their progress: SDG India Index can help States/UTs to
benchmark their progress against the national targets and performance of their peers to understand
reasons for differential performance and devise better strategies to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
• Support States/UTs to identify priority areas: The SDGs undoubtedly present a very bold
agenda. It is clear from this analysis, that several States will face major challenges in achieving the
SDGs. SDG India Index will act as tool to highlight the key areas on which the respective States/UTs
need to invest and improve by enabling States/UTs to measure incremental progress.
• Highlight data gaps related across SDGs: The preparation of the index has highlighted data gaps
related to the SDGs. As highlighted earlier, SDG India Index does not currently cover Goals 12, 13 and
14 largely on account of unavailability of comparable data across States and UTs. Even for basic
indicators like Maternal Mortality Ratio, data is not available for States in the North-East and UTs. The
stated limitations of this index highlights the need for India to develop its statistical systems at the
national and State levels. It highlights the need to increase the capacity and capability of data
collection.

Highlights of the SDG India Index, 2018

A composite SDG India Index score was computed for each State and UT of India based on their aggregate
performance across 13 of the 17 SDGs. The value of the score indicates the average performance of the
State/UT towards achieving the 13 SDGs and their respective targets. The score ranges between 0 and 100
percent. If a State achieves a score of 100 percent, it signifies that the State has achieved the national target
set for 2030. On the other hand, if a State achieves a score of 0, it signifies that the State was the worst
performer. The higher the score of a State, the greater the distance to target achieved.
Based on the score, the States and UTs were classified into four categories, namely Achiever, Front Runner,
Performer and Aspirant. This criteria of classification is as follows:
• Achiever – when SDG India Index score is equal to 100
• Front Runner – when SDG India Index score is less than 100 but greater than or equal to 65
• Performer – when SDG India Index score is less than 65 but greater than or equal to 50
• Aspirant – when SDG India Index score is less than 50
The SDG India Index 2018 reveals that the States of Kerala and Himachal Pradesh top the list of States and
UTs for their aggregate performance towards the Sustainable Development Goals, 2030.
A break-up of SDG India Index score by the component Goals has been shown in the table alongside for each
State and UT. The table can be read both horizontally and vertically. Horizontal view helps to gauge a
State/UT’s performance across the 13 Goals. The vertical view enables a reader to compare the distance to
target achieved by a state/UT relative to other States/UTs.

36
 gauge a State/UT’s performance across the 13 Goals. The vertical view enables a reader to compare
the distance to target achieved by a State/UT relative to other States/UTs.

TABLE 2: PERFORMANCE OF STATE/UT ON EACH SDG

When reading SDG India Index scores within each Goal, leading States/UTs can be identified under each
The subsequent chapters present detailed view of the performance of States and UTs under each Goal.
Goal: (leaving out Goals 12, 13, 14 and 17):
SDG1 Eliminate Poverty: Tamil Nadu and Puducherry
SDG2 Reduce Hunger: Goa and Delhi
SDG3 Good Health: Kerala and Puducherry
10
SDG4 Quality Education: Kerala and Chandigarh
SDG5 Gender Equality: Kerala, Sikkim and Andaman and Nicobar Islands
SDG6 Clean Water and Sanitation: Gujarat and Chandigarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep
SDG7 Affordable and Clean Energy: Tamil Nadu and Chandigarh
SDG8 Decent Work and Economic Growth: Goa and Daman and Diu
SDG9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: Manipur and Delhi and Puducherry
SDG10 Reduce Inequality: Meghalaya, Mizoram, Telangana and Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu
and Lakshadweep

37
 SDG11 Sustainable Cities: Goa, Andaman and Nicobar Island
SDG15 Land Ecosystem: Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Manipur, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, and Lakshadweep
SDG16 Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions: Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry

The SDG India Index is available via an interactive dashboard which has cross-sectoral relevance across
policy, civil society, business and academia. The Index is designed to function as a tool for focussed policy
dialogue, formulation and implementation, moving towards development action pegged to globally
recognisable metrics of SDG framework.

The Index also supplements NITI Aayog’s continuous efforts towards encouraging evidence-based policy
making by supporting States/UTs to benchmark their progress, identifying priority areas and share best
practices.
The SDG India Index will help highlight crucial gaps related to tracking SDGs and the need for India to develop
its statistical systems at National & State/UT levels. This shall lead to the index evolving and becoming more
comprehensive over the coming years. The indicators shall be further refined and additional indicators will be
added with improvement in data collection, reporting processes & methodology. NITI Aayog is exploring
potential for disaggregating data and developing capacity for real time monitoring and measuring incremental
progress.

3. PERFORMANCE DASHBOARDS
Champions of Change – Aspirational Districts Dashboard
The ‘Champions of Change’ Dashboard for real-time data collection and monitoring opened for public viewing
from 1 April 2018. The dashboard has been named so to emphasize the critical role played by the DC/DMs
and their teams in the progress of districts.
A workshop was organized on 23 March to train and familiarise representatives of the districts with the
functioning of the dashboard, including data input, verification and presentation.
The Aspirational Districts program hinges on inducing competition among 112 districts through regular
ranking. From May 2018, Districts started to be ranked on their "incremental progress" i.e. Delta Ranking,
exemplifying the spirit of competitive federalism. Ranking of districts is dynamic and reflects the incremental
(delta) improvement made month on month. Districts are encouraged to improve their data collection &
maintenance mechanisms to enter up to date data on the ‘Champions of Change’ dashboard.
For the district teams, the dashboard offers a variety of functions. Nodal officers can enter data pertaining to
each month, set targets for the year, and view benchmark values for each indicator and survey-validated
values from survey agencies roped in by NITI Aayog. Districts can also view their raw score for the month,
incremental score over and above previous months, and the delta rank.
In the true spirit of transparency that this programme envisages, members of the public can view the live
rankings on the dashboard website, along with options to download the entire dataset indicator-wise or
district-wise. Central Ministries, including NITI Aayog has been allotted a few districts each for driving on the
ground change. Data can also be downloaded according to this classification.

38
Figure 1: Landing page of the dashboard allows visitors to select a district to view their monthly overall composite score,
incremental score, and delta rank along with theme-specific values. Here, the district of Narmada is seen to have improved the
most in the month of September 2018 with its score improving from 41.6 to 44.6.

Figure 2: Districts are provided with login credentials to enter their data on a monthly basis. The data entry screen clearly defines
each indicator, numerator, denominator, unit and periodicity.

39
 Figure 3: All districts are encouraged to set their own targets for the year. The dashboard provides a separate ‘Target Entry’ screen
which also provides state-best & nation-best values for each indicator.

SDG India Dashboard

NITI Aayog in collaboration with United Nations - India has developed a dashboard for SDGs for India which
gives a snapshot of the goals and SDG India index. It captures the state-wise progress made towards
achieving the Goals. In addition to ranking states, it gives the metadata definition of each indicator used in the
construction of the index and the methodology used.

40
Nutrition Dashboard
NITI Aayog has developed the Nutrition Dashboard which provides a very good overview of the overall situation
related to malnutrition in India by intuitively comparing the performance of various states with the national average.
The dashboard also helps make a deeper analysis of the various districts of a particular State, by providing
information on the various nutrition and child health parameters starting from the time of pregnancy.
Comparison of various input and output parameters across 10 years is compared as part of the dashboard -
highlighting states that have made the maximum improvement.
As nutrition is a multi-sectoral issue. The various aspects linked to nutrition outcome for a particular district is
presented in a colour-coded chart is further shared with the district collectors as hard copy.

Atal Tinkering Labs Dashboard

Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) Dashboard presents the all India status of the ATLs across India in a single snapshot.
Going deeper, the dashboard provides the distribution of ATLs across the various districts of a particular state.
The schools in a particular district are visible on a map with geo-tagged ATL school location along with other details
of the school like co-education, board, funding etc. The geo-tagged map of the ATL school helps in understanding
the clusters and spread across the district along with easy identification of areas which needs more schools.

4. MANAGEMENT AND MONITORING OF GOVERNMENT

SERVICE DELIVERY
The Geographical Information System (GIS) Based Planning, Management and Monitoring of Government
service delivery, being implemented in Gujarat is a success story, and NITI Aayog has identified the possibility
of it being rolled out across the country to accelerate progress of key socio-economic indicators and for
reducing regional disparities.
As of September 2018, 26 States/UTs had attended the capacity building programme and 17 States/UTs had
adopted the customised GIS based tool for planning, development and monitoring of development schemes
of their States/UTs.

41
 NITI Aayog is regularly following up the matter with all the States/UTs to upscale the GIS based planning and
monitoring across the country for real time policy interventions.

5. REVIEW OF AUTONOMOUS BODIES

At the request of the Ministry of Finance, NITI Aayog had constituted a Committee in January 2017 under the
Chairmanship of Principal Adviser to review the Autonomous Bodies (ABs) and make recommendations for
enhancing their outcomes, effectiveness, efficiency and governance through consultative processes.
About 679 ABs have been identified across 68 Ministries, with Central Assistance of ₹73,225 crore being
provided in the Union Budget (2018-19). To begin with, the Committee has reviewed ABs set up under the
Societies Registration Act.
In Phase I of the Review, the Committee examined 114 ABs under six departments of the Government of India.
In 2018, the report on Phase-I was finalized and submitted to the Government for consideration.
Simultaneously, Phase-II, involving 165 ABs across 21 Ministries/Departments has commenced (see box
below).

42
Cooperative
Federalism
 INTRODUCTION
NITI Aayog has been constituted to actualize the important goal of cooperative federalism and to enable good
governance in India to build a strong nation state.

Two key features of Cooperative Federalism are: joint focus on the national development agenda by the Centre
and States; and advocacy of State perspectives with Central Ministries.

At the fourth Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog, held on 17 June 2018, the Prime Minister once again
highlighted the importance of NITI Aayog as a platform to inspire cooperative federalism, stressing on the need
for effective centre-state cooperation to advance development outcomes and achieve double-digit and
inclusive growth for India.

It is the constant endeavor of NITI Aayog to evolve a shared vision of national priorities, sectors and strategies
with the active involvement of States, wherein States are equal stakeholders in the planning process as well.
In keeping with this the present Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Dr Rajiv Kumar committed himself to visiting all
States, to develop and offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to
accelerate the implementation of the development agenda.

NITI Aayog has also established models and programmes for development of infrastructure and to reignite and
establish Private Public Partnership, such as the Centre-State partnership model: Development Support
Services to States (DSSS); and the Sustainable Action For Transforming Human Capital (SATH) programme
which is designed to help States improve their social sector indicators by providing them technical support.

Further, with the aim of correcting regional developmental imbalance, NITI Aayog has taken special steps for
regions needing special attention and support, like the North Eastern States, Island States and hilly Himalayan
States by constituting special forums to identify their specific constraints, formulating special policies to ensure
sustainable development takes place in these regions while also protecting their abundant natural resources.

This section of the report provides further details of initiatives and activities undertaken in 2018-19 to further
the spirit of Cooperative Federalism.

44
1. GOVERNING COUNCIL
The Governing Council of NITI Aayog, comprising Chief Ministers of all the States and Union Territories with
Legislatures and Lt. Governors of other Union Territories, came into effect on 16 February, 2015 via a
notification issued by Cabinet Secretariat.
So far, four meetings of the Council have been held under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Prime Minister with
the Chief Ministers/ Lt. Governors of the States/ UTs and other members of NITI Aayog.
Fourth Meeting: 17 June 2018

The fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held on 17 June 2018 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Council held discussions on:
1. Measures taken to double farmers’ incomes
• e-National Agriculture Market
• Soil Health Cards
• Rural / Agricultural Haat/ Gramin Agricultural Markets (GrAM)
• MGNREGs and its contribution towards water conservation
2. Progress made under the flagship schemes of the government
• Ayushman Bharat
• POSHAN Mission
• Mission Indradhanush
3. Steps taken to address developmental needs of specially identified districts under the
Aspirational Districts Programme
4. Suggestions received for the celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
in 2019

45
 At the end of the day-long deliberations, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the Governing
Council of NITI Aayog as a platform to inspire cooperative federalism, stressing the need for effective
center-state cooperation to advance development outcomes and achieve double-digit growth for India. He
called upon States to fix growth targets for their economies as the world looks towards India soon becoming
a USD 5 trillion economy. He advised the States to pay special attention to expanding their exports and
attracting export oriented investment while organizing their investments summits and events.

Sub-group of Chief Ministers on MGNREGA and Agriculture

At the fourth meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council on 17 June, 2018, the Prime Minister also constituted
a Subgroup consisting of Chief Ministers of seven States viz. Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, and Sikkim and Member, NITI Aayog for policy coordination between
agriculture sector and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)
particularly in pre-sowing and post-harvest activities at the farmers’ fields. This was consequent to the
discussions and concerned raised by Chief Ministers about rising cost of production in agriculture.

46
The Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh is Convener of the Sub-Group. The Subgroup is serviced by Agriculture
Vertical, NITI Aayog.
The First Meeting of Sub-Group was held on 12 July, 2018. Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh, and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh participated in the meeting in person. Chief Minister of
Bihar, Shri Nitish Kumar and Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani joined in the deliberations through
video conferencing. Shri N. Chandra Babu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and Ms Mamata Banerjee,
Chief Minister of West Bengal sent their suggestions in writing to the Convenor of the Sub-group.
During the meeting, five critical areas in which MGNREGA could positively work were suggested. These were:
1. Reducing the cost of cultivation;
2. Enhancing the production through efficient use of water or other inputs;
3. Providing remunerative price to farmers by incentivising aggregation and market infrastructure;
4. Rehabilitating agricultural land and assets after natural hazards;
5. Re-planting using MGNREGA fund and bringing diversification in agriculture to help
occupational diversification and maximising profit.
Besides, incentivising farm fencing to protect the farmer fields from wild animals was also suggested. All these
issues were discussed in five regional workshops held at Patna, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Guwahati and New Delhi
with experts, farmers and farmer’s representatives and other stakeholders along with State Governments.
The draft report has been submitted to Convener of the Subgroup.

2. NITI FORUM FOR NORTH EAST

NITI Forum for North East was constituted in February 2018, to identify various constraints in the way for
accelerated, inclusive but sustainable economic growth in the North East Region of our country and also to
recommend suitable interventions for addressing the identified constraints. It is the first ever Regional Forum
constituted by NITI Aayog.
The Forum is co-chaired by the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and Minister of State for M/o Development of North
Eastern Region. The North Eastern Council (NEC) works as the Secretariat of the Forum. It has representation
from all the NE States and the concerned Central Ministries/Departments. Its members include eminent
experts and representatives of reputed institutions of North East, like IIT Guwahati, IIM Shillong, NERIST, RIS,
RFRI etc.
The agenda of the NE Forum includes strategies for improving rail, road and air connectivity, tapping the
potentials of hydel resources in the region, development of agriculture and allied sectors, and promotion of
tourism in the region.
The first meeting of the Forum was held on 10 April 2018 at Agartala, Tripura. The Central
Ministries/Departments have been requested to take the necessary actions on the various decisions points of
the first meeting and follow up action is being continuously monitored.

47
The Second meeting of the Forum was held on 4 December, 2018 at Guwahati, Assam. Five key thrust areas
viz., Tourism, Tea, Bamboo, Dairy and Pisciculture were identified and were discussed in the five parallel
sessions. The panelist identified for panel discussion were subject expert from Industry, Academia and
Government. Each panel discussed the current status, constraints and way forward of the respective sector.
The panelists suggested a set of actionable recommendations for the development of the sector.

New Industrial Policy for North Eastern States

To boost industrialization in NE States, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) was
implementing North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIP), 2007. The policy ended on 31
March 2017.
A Committee was constituted under the Chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog to examine and suggest a
roadmap for a new industrial policy for the North Eastern and the Himalayan States. The Committee finalized
its recommendations after having consultations with the NE States and other stakeholders.
Based upon those recommendations, the DIPP prepared North East Industrial Development Scheme (NEIDS)
2017, with a projected outlay of INR 3,000 crore up to March 2020, which was approved by the Cabinet in
March, 2018. The NEIDS, 2017 has the provisions to incentivize new industrial units in both the manufacturing
and the services sector. The first meeting of NEIDS was held on 5 July, 2018 in the DIPP, M/o Commerce
under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DIPP.

Management of Water Resources for North East

The North East region is endowed with enormous water resources potential that accounts for about 33
percent of the country's total water wealth and about 37 percent of its total hydropower potential although the
region represents only 7.9 percent of the total Indian landmass. Because of its immensely rich water resources
potential this region is now likened to a 'Water Tower' and 'Power House' for the country.
The planning, designing and operation of water resources projects in North Eastern States have been severely
affected by issues of data reliability, frequency and quality. The existing institutional systems and practices are

48
currently operating in compartments. The lesser coordination among different government agencies and
between the stakeholders that has adversely affected the design and implementation of the projects.

On the direction of Hon'ble Prime Minister, a High Level Committee (HLC) under the Chairmanship of
Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog was constituted in October 2017 for Proper Management of Water Resources in
the North-East The High Level Committee (HLC) has tried to appraise the existing mechanism/institutional
arrangements; identify gaps, suggest policy interventions required for the optimally harnessing the water
resources. The HLC has already completed its draft report and shared it with states for their views and
comments. The Report has tried to give recommendations for increased water use efficiency, hydropower
development, rain water harvesting structures, dovetailing the various schemes, managing the flood risks,
protecting the drinking water supplies and water quality and to improve the livelihoods of the people. The
report has proposed the resource led strategy focusing in the region’s water resources to uplift the living
standard of the people in the region.

3. HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT OF ISLANDS

Holistic development of Islands has been accorded high priority by the Government of India and NITI Aayog
has been mandated to steer the process. In consultation with UT administrations, the concerned Central
Ministries/Departments and other stakeholders, 10 Islands namely Aves, Long, Little Andaman, Smith and
Ross in Andaman & Nicobar and Bangaram, Cheriyam, Minicoy, Suheli and Tinnakara in Lakshadweep were
identified for sustainable development.
NITI Aayog, in consultation with the UT Administrations, has identified 17 more Islands/Locations (12 in A&N
and 5 in Lakshadweep) for sustainable development.
An Action Plan for development on these Islands is being prepared by the concerned UT Administration in
consultation with NITI Aayog.
On 10 August 2018, NITI Aayog hosted an Investors’ Conference for the Holistic Development of Islands. The
Conference was inaugurated by Shri. Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, with the objective of attracting
investment for the sustainable development of eco-tourism projects in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep
islands.

49
 There were 11 anchor tourism projects proposed to be implemented with private sector participation under
suitable risk-sharing model and through open-competitive bidding.
A Consultant has been engaged by NITI Aayog for preparation of Master Plans for the following identified
Islands:-
• Aves, Long, Smith and Ross Islands - Package I
• Bangaram, Cheriyam, Minicoy, Suheli and Tinnakara – Package III
Final Site Potential Development Reports and Market Demand Assessment and Infrastructure Gap
Assessment Reports have been prepared for all the Islands under Package I and III; carrying capacity of these
islands has been determined and environmental zoning has been carried out to ensure sustainable
development.
Further, potential sites for sustainable development in Little Andaman and Great Nicobar, outside Tribal
Reserves, are being identified by the UT Administration. These sites would be covered under Package II for
the island development projects.

In addition, pre-feasibility reports have been prepared for key infrastructure projects such as Diglipur and
Minicoy Airports; Bridges on Andaman Trunk Road (ATR); Energy and Water Facilities for Minicoy and Smith
Islands. Viability of improving air connectivity through sea-planes in Lakshadweep was also examined.

For improving air connectivity, necessary actions have been taken up to make Diglipur airport operational for
civilian aircrafts by December, 2018. Construction of Airport at Minicoy, which is also strategically important for
our country, has been entrusted to the Indian Air Force (IAF).

50
4. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDIAN
HIMALAYAN REGION
The Indian Himalayan Region is spread across 12 Indian States (namely Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, two districts
of Assam namely Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong and Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal) stretching
across a length of 2500 km and width of 250 to 300 km. Nearly 50 million people reside in the Indian
Himalayan Region (IHR) alone. The IHR is characterized by diverse demographic, economic, environmental,
social and political systems.
In 2017 Five Working Groups were constituted by NITI Aayog, Government of India, along with Lead
Institutions as Conveners of the Groups for Sustainable Development in Mountains of Indian Himalayan Region
(IHR) to prepare a report each, on thematic areas.
The Thematic Working Groups are:
(i) Inventory and Revival of Springs in Himalayas for Water Security,
(ii) Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region,
(iii) Shifting Cultivation: Towards Transformational Approach,
(iv) Strengthening Skill & Entrepreneurship (E&S) Landscape in Himalayas and
(v) Data/Information for Informed Decision Making.
The Working Groups held several meetings:
3rd July, 2017: Meeting of Inter-thematic Group to discuss ToRs and methodology
24th May, 2018: Draft reports circulated to IHR States/Central Ministries
27th June 2018: Meeting of IHR States, Central Ministries and Thematic Leads
15th July 2018: Revision of Reports; Development of Summary Report
10th August 2018: Thematic report and Summary report review & revisions
On 23 August 2018, the Working Groups Reports and a Summary Report on Sustainable Development in the
Mountain of Indian Himalayan Region was released by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Dr. V. K. Saraswat,
Member and Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog.

51
 Constitution of ‘Himalayan State Regional Council’ for Sustainable Development in Indian Himalayan
Region
On the basis of the recommendations of Five thematic Working Group Reports, on 9 November 2018, NITI
Aayog has constituted ‘Himalayan State Regional Council’ for Sustainable Development in Indian Himalayan
Region. The Council, chaired by Dr. V. K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, will review the implementation of the
identified action points based on the reports.
Rest of the Council will comprise, Chief Secretaries of the 12 Himalayan States, Secretaries of M/o Agriculture
& Farmers’ Welfare, M/o Environment, Forest and Climate Change, M/o Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, M/o Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, M/o Tourism, D/o Rural
Development, Land Resources and Science and Technology, VC and MD of Telangana Forest Development
Corporation, Government of Telangana, Director General, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal and Advisers of NITI
Aayog.
The Council will also be the nodal agency for sustainable development in the Himalayan Region and will
monitor the implementation of action points for Central Ministries, institutions and the l2 Himalayan State
Governments in IHR. It will also monitor finance related matters and will have the power to co-opt other
members as deemed fit to best suit the overall objective of the Sustainable Development of IHR.

5. SUSTAINABLE ACTION FOR TRANSFORMING HUMAN

CAPITAL (SATH)
‘SATH’ the programme for Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital focusses on Education Sector
to build three ‘Role Model’ States.
After an elaborate selection process based on the Challenge Method, three States namely, Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, were selected for the project. The program is being implemented in these
States along with knowledge partners Boston Consulting Group (BCG) & Piramal Foundation for Education
Leadership (PFEL) consortium with NITI Aayog as a facilitator and coordinator in the process.
The project is being implemented in three phases over a period of 30 months, coming to an end in 2020. The
two phases of the project have been completed. It is now in the third phase of implementation, which will last
for 18 months.
This year the major achievements under the project SATH-Education include:
• In depth field diagnosis of districts and schools of Jharkhand, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh.
• State transformation roadmaps released for all the three States, which contain quarterly
milestones committed for each initiative.
• Critical interventions including school mergers, remediation program, training, monitoring
teacher recruitment/ rationalization, institutional reorganization at district and state level and
proper utilization of MIS are in execution mode since January, 2018.
Progress of the project is being monitored through a National Steering Group (NSG) and Central Project
Monitoring Unit (CPMU) at national level and State Project Monitoring Unit (SPMU) at State level.

52
6. DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR STATES/UTS (DSSS)
NITI Aayog has implemented a structured initiative for “Development Support Services for States (DSSS) for
Infrastructure Projects” with a vision to achieve transformational, sustained delivery of infrastructure projects
with state of art capacity disseminated at all levels of governance. The key objective behind the objective is
creating PPP success stories and rebooting infrastructure project delivery models so a sustainable
infrastructure creation cycle is established.
The DSSS Infrastructure initiative involves providing project level support from Concept plan till financial closure
to State Governments / UTs. NITI Aayog has appointed M/s Ernst & Young LLP (EYLLP) as its consultant to
formalize the initiative and to engage with states to identify a project shortlist and providing transaction
management for implementing selected infrastructure projects on ground.
Phase I of the initiative was completed in FY 2018, wherein a demonstrable project shelf consisting of 10
projects were selected from out of over 400 projects received from States based on a multi-staged project
selection framework based on criteria like responsiveness of submissions, readiness, land availability, impact,
replicability, risk, viability assessment and state commitment. The shortlisted 10 projects from eight states
were selected for development on PPP mode through MoU based partnership with the state governments:
During the financial year 2018-19, the Phase II of the initiative was completed, and the selected projects have
progressed onto the transaction stage. As part of Phase II, the project preparation activities and
implementation planning were carried out.
The techno-economic pre-feasibility reports and implementation plans were prepared for the 10 selected
projects. The pre-feasibility reports for the projects included project’s high-level concept plan, implementation
roadmap and PPP structuring options.
The Pre-feasibility reports were discussed and finalised based on discussions and presentations to the
respective State Government authorities. In-principle acceptance of pre-feasibility reports was given for six of
the 10 projects by the respective state governments.
Investor consultations were organised for three out of ten projects namely- Smart Multi-utility for BTCD area in
Bhubaneswar, integrated post-harvest supply chain management infrastructure in identified districts of Tamil
Nadu and Integrated community based Micro Irrigation infrastructure at selected Command Coverage Area
(CCA) clusters in Haryana to generate investor confidence in these projects.

53
 Under DSSS Infrastructure, mandate for additional seven island projects was given to EY LLP (Consultant) for
Phase III milestones. For the additional island projects, Investor consultation meet was organised and draft bid
documents were prepared during the year. The projects presently await approval from competent authorities
for launch of bid process.
As a part of Phase III of the project, NITI Aayog along with EY LLP assisted in preparation and launch of bids
for appointment of technical consultants for preparation of DPRs for two projects, namely Integrated Solid
Waste Management of Roorkee cluster on PPP mode and integrated community based Micro Irrigation
infrastructure at selected Command Coverage Area (CCA) clusters in Haryana.

7. DEVELOPMENT OF PARTNERSHIPS WITH STATES AND UTS

One of the key mandates of NITI Aayog is to foster cooperative federalism and to offer a platform for resolution
of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the implementation of the development
agenda.
Since taking up office, the Vice Chairman, Dr Rajiv Kumar has visited 25 States / UTs, primarily focusing on
their developmental issues.
NITI Aayog has actively engaged with states to develop blue prints of their development agenda and resolve
their pending issues with Central Ministries. For instance, NITI has been working in Uttar Pradesh to draw up
a plan to aid the state government for boosting its economy and making it an attractive destination for
investments while improving key social indicators. Further, detailed meetings have been held with the
Governments of Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and other states in NITI Aayog to expedite the
resolution of their outstanding issues with Government of India.
NITI Aayog has also worked closely with the Government of Tripura to further its development agenda.
Following a visit by the Chief Minister, a team from NITI Aayog visited the state in July, 2018 to understand the
challenges and constraints faced by Tripura. It was subsequently decided to hold a Chintan Shibir in Agartala
from 2nd to 4th, November 2018. NITI Aayog furnished background papers on growth, connectivity, private
sector development, education, skill development, tourism, energy, health & nutrition and doubling farmers
income. Based on the background papers and presentations made by the NITI Aayog team, the Government
of Tripura is preparing a detailed action plan to expedite development in these sectors.

54
Promoting
Innovation
&
Entrepreneurship
 INTRODUCTION
Creating knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support systems through a collaborative community of
international experts, practitioners and other partners, is an important objective of NITI Aayog. This year saw
India’s first Global Mobility Summit organised by NITI, which brought India center stage in global efforts to
transform mobility systems through creation of shared, connected and zero-emission mobility solutions.

NITI entered into over 20 collaborative efforts by signing Statements of Intent (SoIs) in the fields of Artificial
Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, frontier technologies and women entrepreneurship with state governments,
national and international universities and notable names in the industry.

International Women’s Day this year was made extra special by the launch of the Women Entrepreneurship
Platform (WEP) by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. WEP is the first of its kind facilitation platform which is
mandated to work in collaboration with public as well as private sector organizations and bring them on a
single platform by listing their women focused entrepreneurship schemes, initiatives and programmes on WEP
website.

Continuing to work under the aegis of NITI Aayog, Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), the flagship initiative of
Government of India, through newly launched programmes and initiatives like Atal New India Challenge and
ARISE that aims to promote collaborative Applied Research & Innovation between various Central Govt
Ministries and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in India. It is helping reinforce public private
collaboration and ensuring innovations relevant to the domestic and global market places are nurtured giving
rise to large Indian companies of the future.

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1. ATAL INNOVATION MISSION
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) is a flagship initiative of Government of India under the aegis of NITI Aayog
established to inculcate the spirit of innovation and support technology-based entrepreneurship across the
country. AIM has adopted a holistic approach towards establishing an integrated ecosystem of innovation and
entrepreneurship at school, university, industry levels, linking NGOs, venture capital and private industries in
the process.

The institutions, partnerships and mentoring networks being set up by AIM will reinforce public private
collaboration and ensure innovations relevant to the domestic and global market places are nurtured giving rise
to unicorns and large Indian companies of the future.

Disbursement Progress
2016-17 and 2017-18 were initial formative years of AIM with a number of activities related to planning and
launch of its initiatives. The operational activities of AIM have picked up significant momentum since the
second quarter of 2017-18, in which AIM disbursed Rs 127.86 crore in grants-in-aid, compared to a revised
estimate (RE) allocation of Rs 128 crore. Targets for establishment of ATLs and AICs were exceeded in
2017-18.
In the year 2018-19, AIM has already spent 157.31 crores in the first two quarters from the total grants-in-aid
of Rs. 182.5 crores available for the entire year.

Atal Tinkering Labs

ATLs is a work space established in schools across the country where young minds can give shape to their
ideas and learn innovation skills. The main objective driving this initiative is for fostering curiosity, creativity and
imagination in young minds by inculcating critical skills like design mindset, computational thinking, adaptive
learning etc.

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 By year 2017-18, 2441 schools were selected for ATL grants and in the current year (2018-19) another 3000
schools have been selected for setting up of ATLs. Out of this total no. of 5441 ATLs, 2000+ labs are already
set up and active.
Backward areas and Aspirational Districts are being given special consideration in ATL selection. Already, 797
schools have been selected from 102 of the 115 Aspirational Districts. Additionally, special outreach was
made to the aspirational districts to nominate schools for ATLs. More than 250 recommendations have been
received, which are being currently evaluated.
To monitor the progress of these labs, AIM has also launched a real time dashboard where the grantee
schools can report their activities, events and other details. Among various activities, some of the notable ones
are:
1. Atal Innovation Mission has setup a ‘School of the month’ initiative to recognize and
encourage schools that have been actively taking part in all the stipulated activities and
events, bringing out innovations around a given theme. And the best innovations are
recognised and awarded by AIM Industry partners.
2. Atal Innovation Mission had organized ATL Tinkering marathon to identify student innovations
across six pressing areas like Waste Management, Agri-Tech, Clean Energy, Water
Management, Smart Mobility and Healthcare. There were Top-100 innovative solutions
selected from across the pool and Top-30 were provided with an opportunity to showcase
their work on a national level.
3. Student Innovator Program was arranged to identify prototypes from students that were close
to commercialization and further assistance from mentors and experts to improvise their
functionalities and make them market ready.
4. There were tinker fests organized across the country to engage students to ideate, build and
learn across different topics.
5. ATL community day was organized at ATL labs in many parts of the country to reach out non-
ATL students and underprivileged student communities around their schools, that led to
approximately 45000+ benefitting the event.

58
 6. With a motive of “Train the trainer”, there were teacher training sessions organized across the
country with AIM Industry Partners.

Mentor India program

The Mentor India program launched by AIM is a path-breaking initiative to catalyse the academia – industry
partnerships. Under this program, more than 3200 mentors from all over India belonging to various industry
sectors have been assigned to work with 1800+ ATLs on a continuous basis. These mentors volunteer their
time to engage with ATL students, sharing technical and professional insights. Another category of Super
Mentors delivers inspiring lectures to students. Thus far, one MIT professor, one NASA scientists, and several
corporate leaders have talked to students in ATL schools, sharing their life journeys and career insights.

Atal Incubation Centers

Atal Incubation Centers and Established Incubation Centres are incubation spaces intended to provide
incubation facilities to innovative startups like capital equipment and operating facilities along with sectoral
experts for mentoring, business planning support, access to seed capital, industry partnerships, training and
other critical components.
Around the country, 19 AICs are already operational, incubating startups across different fields and working on
new age technology. These AICs have shown success in a short duration of a year’s time with 5000+ new jobs
created and 375+ startups supported. (as per monitoring data collected through Sept 2018). In the current
year, AIM has selected another 82 AICs and EICs taking up the total no. of supported incubators to 101.
AIM is constantly engaging in training of the incubators. A 4-day residential program for about 40 incubator
managers was conducted in January 2018. Another two-day program was organised in August 2018 which
was attended by close to 80 incubators. Other than that, AIM organises webinars and video conferencing
sessions for incubators occasionally to encourage peer-to-peer learning as well as learning from the industry
veterans.

Atal New India Challenge (ANIC)

One other project launched in 2018-19 was Atal New India Challenge (ANIC), which is an initiative by Atal
Innovation Mission aimed at supporting innovators to create products/solutions based on advanced
technologies in areas of national importance and social relevance through a grant-based mechanism. AIM is
working with five separate ministries on this program – Ministry of Agriculture and Family Welfare, Ministry of
Railways, Ministry of Road Transport, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs – to identify areas of importance and attract innovations in them. An open call for applications was made
and AIM has received over 900 applications for 24+ ANIC challenges launched. The process of evaluation of
these applications is currently underway.

59
 Moving forward, AIM is also planning to launch a program ARISE to promote collaborative Applied Research
& Innovation between various Central Govt Ministries and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
in India.
Apart from the various structured programs, AIM from time to time keeps conducting lectures, webinars and
speaker sessions for the students and start-up community. AIM has recently concluded a four-lecture
Facebook webinar series on Intellectual Property.
In an attempt to create an integrated innovation ecosystem AIM has partnered with various organisations from
the industry, civil society, government departments, autonomous bodies etc. who work together to further the
cause of innovation in the country. Apart from these, AIM has also made international collaborations such as
with NTU Singapore and SIRIUS (Russia). Extra concrete example of the value chain approach towards the
innovation ecosystem is an ATL program where top innovations chosen from the supported ATLs are taken to
the next level through workshops conducted at the Atal Incubators. One round of such workshops has already
happened where 30 top innovations were mentored on creating an enterprise, patenting etc. through 4
different AICs and EICs. AIM is institutionalising this process so that it can repeated every year.
AIM is a dynamic and vibrant organization thriving on the energy and enthusiasm of a young, efficient and
energetically committed team. The current team of AIM (inclusive of the managers, YPs, and experts) are all
lateral hires from the private sector. The Mission Director of AIM is on deputation from one of the largest private
sector software companies in India. This team has demonstrated a new, goal-oriented way of delivering results
at scale, with speed.

2. MOVE: GLOBAL MOBILITY SUMMIT 2018

MOVE: Global Mobility Summit 2018, India’s first mobility summit held in September 2018, saw participation
from across the world including leaders from the government, industry, research organizations, academia,
think tanks and civil society. Attended by more than 3000 experts, the summit aimed to bring focus to
transforming the mobility paradigm in India, through creation of shared, connected and zero-emission mobility
systems.
The Summit was inaugurated by the Prime Minister who outlined the vision for the future of mobility in India
based on 7 C’s - Common, Connected, Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean and Cutting-edge.

60
The Summit, saw the participation of global leaders from industry such as:
• Chairman, Toyota Motor Corporation
• Chairman, Suzuki Motor Corporation
• Chairman, Bosch, GmbH
• Vice Chairman, Hyundai Motor Corporation
• Executive Vice President, Ford Motor Company
• Executive Director, SML, Isuzu
• President & CEO, Honda Cars India Ltd
• CEO & MD, Tata Motors Ltd
• President and MD, Volkswagen India Pvt Ltd
• Chairman Mahindra Group
• Chairman, MD & CEO Hero Moto Corp
• Co-founder & CEO, Ola
• MD, Volvo India
• MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
• Vice Chairman, Toyota Kirloskar Motors
• Chairman & MD, Hero Cycles
• CEO & MD, Renault India
• Joint MD & CEO, JSW Energy
• MD, 3M India
• MD, Skoda Auto India
• Chairman, JBM Group
• Chairman, Force Motors
Ministers speaking at various thematic sessions included:
1. Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon'ble Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water Resources,
River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation)
2. Shri Piyush Goyal, Hon’ble Minister of Railways and Coal, Government of India
3. Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Hon'ble Minister of Law and Justice and Electronics and Information
Technology
4. Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship
5. Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, Hon'ble Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs
6. Shri Jayant Sinha, Hon'ble Minister of State for Civil Aviation

30+ global CEOs, 100+ state officials, 100+ foreign delegates and 200+ Indian CEOs participated in the
event. International representatives from embassies along with the private sector from United States of
America, Japan, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, New Zealand, Austria, Germany, Brazil and more
participated actively in the two day summit.

61
 State and Regional Consultations

Prior to the Summit, extensive consultations were held with the States and UTs to engage with in the process
of outlining the mobility strategy for the country. The consultations were initiated by NITI Aayog visiting 19
States and 14 states as well as UTs through video conference, leading to creation of State mobility taskforce
headed by the chief secretary of the state and comprising stakeholders from government departments,
industry, civil society and academia.

An orientation workshop was held at NITI Aayog on 28 June 2018, followed by five regional workshops to
discuss the contours of state specific mobility strategies. Finally, 22 states submitted their respective state
mobility strategies which were compiled, and a compendium of State Strategies was released during the
Summit.

Delhi
All Bengaluru
States Ahmedabad
& UTs Kolkata
Guwahati

State
Task State Draft Regional
State State
force Orientation Consulta- Work- Mobility
on Workshop tions Mobility shops
Strategy Strategy
Mobility

June 2018 July 2018 August 2018

NITI has interacted with 36 States/UTs

Separate consultations were held with industries and civil society, think tanks and academia on 10 July 2018
at NITI to engage with them and seek their inputs for the Summit. Six webinars were held in Mexico, Brazil,
Indonesia, USA, Africa and China between 30 July and 3 August 2018 to discuss Challenges and
Opportunities associated with transforming mobility. These covered aspects such as Governance, Financing
& PPP, Safety, Demand side issues, Integrated land use & transport planning, Gender issues, Systematic plan
for electrification, Emerging technologies, Urban freight, and Open data for shared mobility.
Further, MoveHack, the global hackathon saw around 35,000 registrations from around the globe for coding
solutions to mobility problems. Together, these will help drive the government’s goals for vehicle electrification,
renewable energy integration and job growth and also speed up India’s transition to a clean energy economy.

3. WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP PLATFORM

The idea of setting up a Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) to promote and support established as well
as aspiring women entrepreneurs in India took seed at the 8th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES)
held in Hyderabad in November 2017, jointly by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Government of the United
States of America.
The platform was formally launched on 8 March 2018, on the occasion of International Women’s Day by
Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
It is the first of its kind facilitation platform which is mandated to work in collaboration with public as well as
private sector organizations and bring them on a single platform by listing their women focused
entrepreneurship schemes, initiatives and programmes on WEP website. It also enables sharing of best

62
practices amongst women entrepreneurs and partner organizations and promote evidence based policy
making.

WEP Partners
WEP, through its partners, tends to offer services to members under various support areas:
• Incubation and Acceleration
• Entrepreneurship Skilling
• Marketing Assistance,
• Funding and Financial Assistance
• Compliances Support
• Social Entrepreneurship
WEP has more than 30 partners from various industries and sectors and have signed Statement of Intent (SoI)
with many of those who have committed specific deliverables towards WEP users. These partners include,
Atal Innovation Mission, CRISIL, SIDBI, FICCI, NASSCOM, Google, Facebook, Institute of Chartered
Accountants of India, Institute of Company Secretaries of India, CII, WEE Foundation, Nexus Incubator,
MannDeshi Foundation, ShopClues, SEWA Bank amongst others.
Under the Social Entrepreneurship domain, WEP will also launch its IVRS service to facilitate registration for
aspiring and established women entrepreneurs in social and development sector who are not tech savvy and
do not have access to internet.
Since its launch in March 2018, in a short span of eight months, WEP through its partners have offered various
support services for WEP registered women entrepreneurs, some of them are as follows:
• WEP along with WEE Foundation launched two mentorship programmes, the first happened in IIT-D
and the other will soon begin in IIT-B.
• WEP in association with NEXUS started several Incubation cohorts for women entrepreneurs.
• WEP along with SREI and Google Internet saathi will onboard around 3,000 women entrepreneurs
from rural areas on WEP platform for them to avail services available on the platform.
• WEP partner INNSAEI Ventures has committed a corpus of INR 10 crores for WEP for women led
ventures in frontier technologies.

WEP Road Show Series

In the month of July 2018, WEP launched its 'RoadShow Series' to initiate dialogue with various State
Governments and to sensitize local stakeholders for building a conducive entrepreneurial ecosystem for
women entrepreneurs. More than 1000 women entrepreneurs participated across states:
• Mumbai: In Association with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management
Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.
• Bengaluru: In association with Jain University and United Nations and NASSCOM
• WEP-eMERG event, in association with Ministry of Medium and Small Enterprises (MSME),
Government of India and Government of Karnataka
• Delhi: International Conference on Empowering Women- Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and
Sustainability in association with Shriram College of Commerce conference, New Delhi
• Pune: In association with Symbiosis University, Pune

WEP New Platform

WEP will launch its highly evolved AI/ML based Version 2.0 of the online platform in the month of December
2018 by adding an additional layer of 'Mapping' to the platform through which information, schemes,
programmes, events, courses, news etc. will be shown to the user, based entirely on the chosen area of

63
 interest. This feature available on WEP portal would greatly improve user experience and help in giving greater
exposure to existing initiatives in this ecosystem.

SoI Signing with INNSAEI Ventures

International Conference on Empowering Women-Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability in association with
Shriram College of Commerce conference, New Delhi

4. WOMEN TRANSFORMING INDIA AWARDS 2018

WEP received an overwhelming number of nominations — more than 1400 for the Third edition of Women
Transforming India (WTI) Awards through its website. The Women Transforming India Awards is a flagship event
of NITI Aayog, organized in partnership with United Nations. The idea behind WTI Awards is to award and
showcase such exceptional women entrepreneurs who have broken the glass ceiling and have challenged
stereotypes through businesses, enterprises, and initiatives that:
• Provide innovative solutions to address key development challenges and/or,
• Impact communities
Top 12 nominees, selected through a transparent and highly objective process of screening and evaluation
through expert organization and eminent jury members were awarded in the formal ceremony held in the
month of December 2018.

64
WTI Awards 2018 received an overwhelming number of nominations of more than 1400. Top 12 nominations, selected
through a transparent and highly objective process of screening and evaluation through expert organization and eminent jury
members were awarded in the formal ceremony held in the month of December 2018.

5. STATEMENTS OF INTENT - COLLABORATING FOR

TRANSFORMATION
Over 20 Statements of Intent (SoIs) were entered into by NITI Aayog in the year 2018, in the fields of Artificial
Intelligence (AI), Blockchain, frontier technologies and women entrepreneurship, with State governments,
national and international universities and notable names in the industry.

Exploration of collaboration on AI with Nanyang Technological University Singapore, and leading

agencies/institutes in USA, Sweden and Japan are at the exploratory stage.

The progress made in SOIs has been follows:

• SoI with NASSCOM: to work together to promote Applied Research, Accelerating Adoption and
Ethics, Privacy and Security. The initiatives would include collaboration to advance the development
of the AI ecosystem in India; exchange of knowledge, learnings and experiences in the field of AI; and
organizing meetings, forums and other events to disseminate learnings across their networks. A
workshop on 'Skilling for the Age of AI' in collaboration with NASSCOM 'Future Skills' with participants
from the government, industry, and academia was organizes before the release of discussion paper
on National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence.
• NITI-IBM SoI on using AI in Agriculture for Precision Farming: The partnership has successfully
developed the AI prediction engine for weather, pest/disease, soil moisture/temperature and
vegetation health for 4 crops in 10 districts.
• SoI with Oracle for blockchain in Pharma: The scoping and development of blockchain platform
for pharmaceutical supply chain in collaboration with Oracle, Apollo, Strides manufacturing and GS1
toward decreasing 'fake drugs' in the market, and increase transparency for consumers has been
completed.
• SoI between NITI Aayog and Google: to collaborate to advance the development of the AI
ecosystem in India; facilitate the interaction of key stakeholders in the AI ecosystem; exchange
knowledge, learnings and experiences in the field of AI; and to organise meetings, forums and other

65
 events to disseminate learnings across their networks. A workshop under this SoI for National
Consultation with States on Artificial Intelligence in collaboration with Google was organized.
• Toolkit for NLP in Indic Languages: Working with IIT-Patna and Microsoft to create a repository of
tools required to deliver dynamic content in Indian regional languages and make this available to
startups, developers, and researchers in the country. Currently, a series of workshops have been
planned to source ideas from the leading academic, government, and industry minds to understand
the nature of this repository, the data required, and how it can be sourced.
• GNFC SoI on Blockchain: for proof of concept (PoC) for optimising fertilizer subsidy supply chain,
detailed scope has been worked out, development of minimum viable product (MVP).
• UK Healthcare SoI: focused on AI solutions focused on Healthcare; call for UK AI companies and
initial screening completed, vetting with Indian experts to be taken up
• SoI with Nvidia: Collaborating with Nvidia to train our future workforce for jobs in artificial intelligence
and the usage of supercomputing infrastructure through workshops for faculty, 'ambassador
program', and an online platform ('Deep Learning Institute').
• SoI with Perlin: Launched a first of its kind Hackathon on 'Privacy Preserving AI' and 'Distributed
Computing' and in the process of organizing a round table with various stakeholders to embark on a
pilot project to determine the feasibility of privacy preserving and distributed computing techniques in
India.
• SoI with SatSure Analytics India Pvt. Ltd.: to work together towards use of technology to provide
insights to farmers to improve crop productivity, soil yield, control agricultural inputs with the
overarching goal of improving farmers’ incomes.
• Development of Cancer BioBank project in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital, IIT Bombay
and IISc. The project has received in-principal approval of Department of Bio Technology for
implementation.
• Govt of Maharashtra on Frontier Technologies: The Government of Maharashtra on 13
November, 2018 signed a memorandum of understanding with the NITI Aayog and Wadhwani AI
group to launch the International Centre for Transformational Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) focusing on
the rural healthcare.
• Agreement to launch model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) in
collaboration with Intel and TIFR announced on 7th September, 2018.
• Natural Language Processing project in collaboration with Dr. Pushpak Bhattacharyya (IIT-Patna)
and International Innovation Corps (University of Chicago): The scoping for project has been
kickstarted.

66
Think
Tank
Activities
 INTRODUCTION
Drawing inspiration and direction from the Honorable Prime Minister’s clarion call for establishing a New India
by 2022, and as the government of India’s premier think tank responsible for designing strategic and long-term
policy and programme frameworks, one of the most important activities undertaken by NITI Aayog this year
was formulating the ‘Strategy for New India @ 75’. The strategy document outlines the different horizons or
stages of development that India is at across 41 sectors and lays out clear objectives for 2022-23 with the
view of transforming India.
NITI Aayog has taken some significant steps this year, towards fulfilling these objectives and with an eye on
India’s ability to meet future needs. These include developing a national strategy on Artificial Intelligence,
partnering with leading AI technology players to implement AI projects in critical areas such as agriculture and
health, to kickstarting India’s methanol economy programme developed by NITI, with the launch of Asia’s first
canisters based methanol cooking fuel program in Assam in October 2018.
Further, engaging widely with national and international like-minded think tanks, educational and policy
research institutions and subject matter experts has led to development of partnerships between key
stakeholders.
This section also reports the activities of the National Institute of Labour Economics Research and
Development (NILERD), an autonomous institute under NITI Aayog. Primary objectives of this institution include
research and data collection in relation to all major aspects of development, education and training in all
aspects of human capital planning, human resource development and monitoring and evaluation.

68
1. STRATEGY FOR NEW INDIA @ 75
Drawing inspiration and direction from the Prime Minister’s clarion call for establishing a New India by 2022,
NITI Aayog embarked on a journey of formulating the ‘Strategy for New India @ 75’.
In his foreword the Prime Minister says, “The Strategy for New India @75 put together by NITI Aayog is an
attempt to bring innovation, technology, enterprise and efficient management together, at the core of policy
formulation and implementation. It will encourage discussion and debate and invite feedback for further refining
our policy approach. We believe that economic transformation cannot happen without public participation.
Development must become a Jan Andolan.”

NITI Aayog followed an extremely participative approach in preparing the strategy. Each area vertical in NITI had
in depth consultations with all three groups of stakeholders, viz., business persons, academics including
scientists, and government officials. This was followed by consultations at the level of NITI with seven sets of
stakeholders that included scientists and innovators, farmers, civil society organizations, think tanks, labour
representatives and trade unions, as well as industry representatives. Each chapter draft was sent to the
respective line ministry for their inputs, suggestions and comments. The completed draft document was
circulated to all the States and Union Territories. In all over 800 stakeholders from within the government –
central, state and district levels – and about 550 external experts were consulted during the preparation of the
document.

The purpose of this document is to define clear objectives for 2022-23 in a diverse range of forty-one areas
that recognize the progress already made; and challenges that remain; identify binding constraints in specific
sectors; and suggest the way forward for achieving the stated objectives. The forty-one areas have been
disaggregated under four sections: Drivers, Infrastructure, Inclusion and Governance.

69
 The first section on Drivers focuses on the engines of
economic performance – in macroeconomic terms with
chapters on growth and employment. The section also
discusses strategies for the doubling of farmers’ incomes;
boosting Make in India; upgrading the science, technology
and innovation eco-system; and promoting sunrise sectors
like fintech and tourism.
Some of the key recommendations in the section on
Drivers include:
• Steadily accelerate the economy to achieve a
GDP growth rate of about 8% on average
during 2018-23. This will raise the economy’s
size in real terms from USD 2.7 trillion in
2017-18 to nearly USD 4 trillion by 2022-23.
Increase the investment rate as measured by
gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) from the
present 29% to 36% of GDP by 2022.
• In agriculture, shift the emphasis to converting
farmers to ‘agripreneurs’ by further expanding
e-National Agriculture Markets and replacing the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee
Act with the Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing Act.
• Give a strong push to ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ techniques that reduce costs, improve
land quality and increase farmers’ incomes. This has emerged as a tested method for putting
environment carbon back into the land.
• To ensure maximum employment creation, complete codification of labour laws and a
massive effort must be made to upscale and expand apprenticeships.
• Launch a mission “Explore in India” by revamping minerals exploration and licensing policy.
The second section on Infrastructure deals with the physical foundations of growth which are crucial to
enhancing the competitiveness of Indian business as also ensuring the citizens’ ease of living.
Some of the key recommendations in the section on Infrastructure include:
• Expedite the establishment of the Rail Development Authority (RDA), which is already approved. RDA
will advise or make informed decisions on an integrated, transparent and dynamic pricing mechanism
for the railways.
• Double the share of freight transported by coastal shipping and inland waterways. Initially, viability gap
funding will be provided until the infrastructure is fully developed. Develop an IT-enabled platform for
integrating different modes of transport and promoting multi-modal and digitized mobility.
• With the completion of the Bharat Net programme in 2019, all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats will be
digitally connected. Aim to deliver all government services at the state, district, and gram panchayat
level digitally by 2022-23.
The section on Inclusion deals with the urgent task of investing in the capabilities of all of India’s citizens. The
three themes in this section revolve around the various dimensions of health, education and mainstreaming of
traditionally marginalized sections of the population.

70
Some of the key recommendations in the section on Inclusion include:
• Successfully implementing the Ayushman Bharat programme including the establishment of 150,000
health and wellness centres across the country and rolling out the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Abhiyaan (PM-JAY).
• Create a focal point for public health at the central level with state counterparts. Promote integrative
medicine curriculum.
• Upgrade the quality of the school education system and skills, including the creation of a new
innovation ecosystem at the ground level by establishing at least 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs by 2020.
• Conceptualize an electronic national educational registry for tracking each child’s learning outcomes.
• As already done in rural areas, give a huge push to affordable housing in urban areas to improve
workers’ living conditions and ensure equity while providing a strong impetus to economic growth.
The final section on Governance delves deep into how the tasks/business of government can be streamlined
and reformed to achieve better outcomes. It involves a sharp focus on ensuring accountability and a shift to
performance-based evaluation.
Some of the key recommendations in the section on Governance include:
• Implement the recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission as a prelude to
appointing a successor for designing reforms in the changing context of emerging technologies and
growing complexity of the economy.
• Set up a new autonomous body, viz., the Arbitration Council of India to grade arbitral institutions and
accredit arbitrators to make the arbitration process cost effective and speedy, and to pre-empt the
need for court intervention.
• Address the backlog of pending cases - shift part of workload out of regular court system.
• Expand the scope of Swachh Bharat Mission to cover initiatives for landfills, plastic waste and
municipal waste and generating wealth from waste.

2. INDIA KNOWLEDGE HUB

NITI Aayog has created the India Knowledge Hub (IKH), a dynamic web portal, functioning as a repository to
store and disseminate best practices from across the country.
The Hon’ble Prime Minister places emphasis that states should not only learn from each other but capitalize
on their strengths. Reflecting the spirit of cooperative federalism, the NITI Aayog launched the India Knowledge
Hub so that districts, States, Central ministries and other government institutions can exchange knowledge on
real-time basis and replicate practices that have worked in other areas.
The portal is accessible via www.indiaknowledgehub.gov.in. It serves as a dynamic sharing platform in which
the key functionaries can directly upload best practices for replication in other regions. While, mostly the best
practices are directly uploaded by the district collectors from any State/UT, Departments of State governments
and Central Ministry can also upload the best practices in the portal. In its first phase, the portal is also being
extended to certain non-government institutions which have requested access to upload best practices.
Presently, there are over 400 best practices that are catalogued in 20 thematic areas, covering Digital India,
e-governance, law and order and security, financial inclusion, health, nutrition, education, Public Private
Partnership (PPP) among others. The best practices are examples of the innovative practices adopted in
districts. It also provides a platform for valuable feedback and is visible to the public.

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 3. NATIONAL STRATEGY ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Recognising AI’s potential to transform economies and the need for India to strategise its approach, Hon’ble
Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 2018 – 2019, mandated NITI Aayog to establish the National
Program on AI, with a view to guiding the research and development in new and emerging technologies.
In pursuance of the above, NITI Aayog has adopted a three-pronged approach – undertaking exploratory
proof-of-concept AI projects in various areas, crafting a national strategy for building a vibrant AI ecosystem in
India and collaborating with various experts and stakeholders. Since the start of this year, NITI Aayog has
partnered with several leading AI technology players to implement AI projects in critical areas such as
agriculture and health.
NITI Aayog after having round of consultations released a discussion paper on National Strategy on Artificial
Intelligence on its website on 4th June 2018.
The Strategy is termed #AIForAll as it is focused on leveraging AI for inclusive growth in line with the
Government policy of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. Role of the Government has been clearly delineated to
develop the research ecosystem, promote adoption and address skilling challenges. The strategy also flags
important issues like ethics, bias and privacy issues relating to AI and envisions Government promoting
research in technology to address these concerns. The focus is on sectors like agriculture, health and
education where public investment and lead would be necessary.

4. INITIATING METHANOL ECONOMY IN INDIA

Methanol Economy program initiated by NITI Aayog is aimed at reducing our oil import bill; reducing
greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions & converting Indian coal reserves and municipal solid waste into methanol
leading to independence from import while creating new jobs by setting up Methanol Production Plants.
Methanol as a low carbon, hydrogen carrier fuel, produced from high ash coal, agricultural residue, CO2 from
thermal power plants and natural gas is the best pathway for meeting India’s commitment to COP 21. Although
slightly lower in energy content than petrol and diesel, it can replace both petrol and diesel in transport sector
(road, rail and marine), energy sector (comprising of DG sets, boilers, process heating modules, tractors and
commercial vehicles) and retail cooking replacing LPG (partially), Kerosene and wood charcoal. In addition, it
would bring down GHG emissions by 20% in terms of particulate matter, NOx, and SOx thereby improving
urban air quality.

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Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Hon’ble Member, NITI Aayog, launching Canister based methanol cookstoves at Assam Petrochemical Limited

On 5th October, 2018 Assam Petro-chemicals launched Asia’s first canisters based methanol cooking fuel
program. The program is an extension of the Prime Minister’s vision of reducing import of crude and an effort
to provide clean, cost effective and pollution free cooking medium. Methanol cook stoves can result in a
minimum of 20% savings for households in comparison to LPG. After huge success at pilot scale the
methanol cooking program is being scaled up to 1,00,000 households by next year in the states of Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Manipur.
As a part of the R & D of the program, work is in progress to set up coal to methanol plants in the country using
the indigenous technology which are currently being demonstrated at BHEL (Hyderabad), Thermax, BHEL
(Trichy) and IIT Delhi. Thermax with IIT Delhi is working on 1 TPD demonstration plant while BHEL (Hyderabad)
& BHEL (Trichy) are working on 1 TPD and 40 TPD demonstration plants respectively.
R & D project has been sanctioned by Department of Biotechnology for production of Methanol from biomass
to IISc Bengaluru and Praj Industries Pune. Phase I of the demonstration of production of syngas from biomass
(coconut shell & cotton stalk can be used directly while agriculture residue can be used in the form of
briquettes) will be demonstrated in January 2019.

5. INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS
4th NITI Aayog -Development Research Council (DRC) Dialogue
The fourth Dialogue between Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council, Peoples' Republic of
China and National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), Republic of India (the ‘NITI Aayog- DRC
Dialogue') was held on 1 November 2018 in Mumbai, India. The Chinese delegation was led by Mr. Li Wei,
President of DRC and the Indian delegation was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog.

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 The dialogue took place under the MOU between NITI Aayog of the Government of India and the Development
Research Centre (DRC), State Council of the People’s Republic of China that was signed during the visit of
Hon’ble Prime Minister of India to China in May 2015.
It was attended by 40 senior delegates from China and India Administration, and representatives of local
government, academia and enterprises. The Indian delegation consisted of delegates from NITI Aayog,
Ministry of External Affairs, Department of Commerce, academicians and other eminent personalities.
In this year's Dialogue, three sessions were held on topics covering Global Economy, Globalization, and
Macro-economic Policies in China and India; Innovation, Opening up and Economic Transformation; and
Sino-India Economic and Trade Cooperation: Potentials and Prospects.
It was agreed that NITI Aayog and DRC will undertake joint research in the areas of WTO reforms and
urbanization, which would be presented in the next Dialogue. The teams nominated by both sides to
undertake the research will interact through inter-sessional meetings and present the results at the 5th
Dialogue. The 5th DRC-NITI Aayog Dialogue shall be convened in Wuhan, China in November, 2019.

5th NITI Aayog-National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China Strategic Economic
Dialogue (SED)
The 5th edition of the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) was held in Beijing, China on April 14th,
2018. The Indian Side was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog and the Chinese Side by Dr. He
Lifeng, Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The two Sides exchanged in-depth view on global economic trends and the macroeconomic situation of both
countries. Discussions were held on enhancing bilateral practical cooperation across the five Inter-Ministerial
Working Groups, i.e. Policy Coordination; Infrastructure; High-tech; Resource Conservation and
Environmental Protection; and Energy that exist within the ambit of the SED.
It was noted that the SED has played a positive role for the two countries in seizing opportunities, enhancing
mutual trust, expanding consensus, and strengthening strategic coordination and cooperation.
The concrete outcomes, achievements and progress made by the five Working Groups of the SED in line with
the principles of pragmatism and in order to boost sustainable economic development were also laid out
during the Dialogue.
The delegations from both Sides for the SED comprised of senior officials and notable representatives from
the government, enterprises and research institutions. As an outcome of the Dialogue, it was agreed by the
Sides to conduct field investigations and related meetings to promote the implementation of the achievements
of this SED and to enhance interaction and communication.
The 6th edition of the SED is scheduled be held at a mutually convenient date in 2019 in India.

1st India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue between NITI Aayog and Ministry of Economic
Development, Russian Federation
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, Government of India has signed an Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) with Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation (MEDRF), Government
of Russia on in October 2018 to explore the potential of cooperation in the framework of preparation and
implementation of strategies and programs of social, economic, industrial and regional development.
Under the agreements stipulated in the MoU, the 1st India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue (IRSED) was
held at St. Petersburg, Russia on 25-26 November 2018. The IRSED was led by Mr. Maxim Oreshkin,
Minister, MED from the Russian side and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog from the Indian side.
The 1st IRSED focused on five core areas of cooperation, namely, Development of Transport Infrastructure and
Technologies; Development of Agriculture and Agro-Processing sector; Small and Medium Business Support;
Digital Transformation and Frontier Technologies; and Industrial Cooperation and Trade. The intended objective
of the IRSED was to identify the most promising areas to improve bilateral trade, economic and investment
cooperation, and to define joint projects in the framework of national programs.

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Representatives of federal and region authorities, academic and business communities participated from both
Sides in IRSED. The need to recognize shared interests through the IRSED mechanism and commitment to
closely cooperate and address outstanding issues in a time-bound and mutually beneficial way was reaffirmed
by both sides at the Dialogue.
As an outcome of the Dialogue, an India-Russia Bilateral Council has been set up in NITI Aayog tasked to carry
the objectives of the IRSED forward.
The second India-Russia Strategic Economic Dialogue is scheduled to be held at the end of July/beginning of
August 2019 in India.

NITI Aayog-National Planning Commission, Nepal Dialogue

Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog visited Kathmandu on 20 September, 2018 and delivered a distinguished public
lecture on “India, Nepal and Neighbourhood”. Vice Chairman also met Prof. Puspa Raj Kadel, Vice Chair of the
National Planning Commission (NPC) of Nepal. The matter of setting up an annual policy dialogue between
NITI Aayog and the National Planning Commission of Nepal, which had been agreed during the State Visit of
PM Nepal to India in August 2017, was discussed with the Vice-Chair of NPC. This was further deliberated
with the Vice Chair of NPC during his visit to India in October, 2018 and it was agreed that a structure for
initiating the dialogue would be put in place, in consultation with Ministry of External Affairs of India and Ministry
of Foreign Affairs of Nepal.

5th Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD)

In September 2015, 193 countries including India committed to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs) as detailed in the UN resolution, ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development’. The central platform for international follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda is the High-Level
Political Forum (HLPF), which meets annually under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council
(ECOSOC).
As a regional preparatory for the HLPF, the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development was held for the
5th time at Bangkok from 28 Mar 2018 to 30 Mar 2018 under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog. It engaged member States, United Nations bodies, international organizations and
other stakeholders in deliberations on the theme, “Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies”.
The Forum reviewed progress on the identified SDGs to be discussed at the HLPF — Goals 6 (clean water
and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible
consumption and production), 15 (life on land) and 17 (partnership for the Goals) — as well as the interlinkages
across all Goals. The Forum facilitated experience sharing between countries who have already presented
their Voluntary National Reviews at the HLPF and those who were to present theirs at the HLPF 2018 to be
held in the month of July at New York. The Forum also took stock of progress made in respect of the regional
road map for implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific. Around 600
participants joined the event.

South Asia Forum on Sustainable Development

The “South Asia Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals” was co-organized by NITI Aayog, United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and RIS on 4-5 October 2018
at India Habitat Centre to enhance awareness on challenges and opportunities for the implementation of the
2030 Agenda, generate reflections on sub-regional perspectives and good practices on the Goals under
review at the HLPF in 2019, and identify ways to strengthen partnerships and implementation efforts.
Representatives from South Asian countries, prominent think tanks and academia as well as regional and
sub-regional organizations supporting implementation of SDGs participated in the Forum. Key focal areas of
the deliberations were the scope and options for improving the regional/sub-regional policy environment for
implementation of SDGs and capacity development of key stakeholders.

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 Statement of Intent (SOI) between NITI Aayog and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy (BEIS), UK
The SOI envisages a partnership between NITI Aayog and the BEIS under which UK regional technology
clusters including the Midlands Engine economic region, the Northern Powerhouse economic region, other
Mayoral Combined Authorities and Local Enterprise Partnerships, and Regions of the UK as accepted by the
BEIS and NITI Aayog, may find pragmatic cooperation partnerships with Indian regional authorities (collectively
referred to as “the cluster members”) with similar technological priorities for; bilateral discussions and
exchange including of best practice; discussion, and sharing of experiences on what works in policy
development and delivery; collaboration on technology and innovation challenges; and joint showcasing of
India-UK technology.
The partnership would facilitate exploring the potential for deeper and more regular engagement on future
technology co-operation vis a vis Future Mobility and Electric Vehicles, AI and Data (including as applied to
healthcare in support of the Digital Pilots in the Aspirational Health Districts and equivalent UK initiatives),
FinTech, digital and advanced manufacturing (including collaboration on a potential India UK Future
Manufacturing Centre); entrepreneurship; and on advancing AI, big data and analytics capability for evidence
based policy making. Other areas may be added with the arrangement of both participants.

6. THINK TANK ACTIVITIES

4th Edition of NITI Lectures: Transforming India Series held on Artificial Intelligence

NITI Aayog organised the fourth edition of the NITI lecture series on 22 August 2018. The theme for the 2018 lecture
was “AI for ALL: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Inclusive Growth”. The key note address was delivered by Jensen
Huang, President and Co-Founder, NVIDIA Corporation. Mr. Huang highlighted India's potential in Artificial Intelligence
as a result of a culture that fosters re-skilling and research and building an ideal environment to understand nuanced
problems in development-oriented sector such as agriculture, health, education.
The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion on the importance and future of Artificial Intelligence in India
with representation of different stakeholders. Other panellists included Dr. P. Anandan, CEO, Wadhwani Institute for
Atrificial Intelligence, Prof. Mausam, Associate Professor at the Department of Computer Science in IIT-Delhi and an
affiliate faculty at the University of Washington, Prof. B. Ravindran, head of Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and
Artificial Intelligence at IIT Madras and a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and
Avneesh Agarwal, Founder and CEO, Netradyne. The welcome remarks were given by the Vice Chairman, NITI
Aayog and the vote of thanks was delivered by the CEO, NITI Aayog.

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NITI Aayog has been bringing policy makers, academics, experts and administrators of global repute to India.
The aim of the series is to enable learning, both at the Centre & States, from successful development practice
world over. The NITI Lectures are attended by the Government’s top decision makers, including members of
the Cabinet and senior officials across ministries and departments.

Economists’ Huddles
NITI Aayog hosted three quarterly Economists’ Huddles chaired by the Vice Chairman in 2018. The Huddles were
envisaged as a forum to better inform policy inputs by including the perspective of a broad set of economists on the
state of the global and Indian economy as well as solicit ideas, debate, and improved discourse around specific
subjects like boosting employment, exports, revenue, and productivity. Economists invited included market
practitioners at domestic and International banks, academics, practitioners at non-profits and think tanks, members
of the MPC, regulators, practitioners at the largest domestic business conglomerates, and senior economic editors.
Response from the broader economist community has been encouraging with broad based and enthusiastic
participation. Discussions at the Huddles have provided valuable perspective for better understanding of various
issues as well as inputs for NITI and relevant line ministries.

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 7. ENGAGING BEYOND BORDERS
The Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and the CEO, NITI Aayog regularly engage with eminent dignitaries, diplomatic
officials and global CEOs for exchange of ideas, best practices and building partnerships for mutual
cooperation and development.

Some of the prominent people who visited NITI in 2018 are as under:
• Delegation from “The Elders” founded by Nelson Mandela and Mr. Ban-Ki-Moon, former Secretary
General of the United Nations
• H.M. Queen Maxima of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
• Eng. Khalid A. Al-Falih, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Mr. Akimoto Masatoshi, Parliamentary Vice Minister of Land, Infra, Transport and Tourism, Japan
• Mr. Chuck Robbins, Global CEO, CISCO
• Mr. Dirk Wiese, Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
• Mr. John A. Fraser, Australian Treasury Secretary
• Mrs. Elisabeth Borne, French Minister & delegation

Engaging with Think Tanks

The Samavesh initiative by NITI started in 2016 has continued with the following broad objectives:
1. To deepen NITI’s Institutional Capacity
2. To enable institutions to fulfil their role
3. To promote knowledge and information sharing
4. To catalyse development and capacity
5. To link policy with practice

NITI Aayog is in the process of chalking out the work plan to optimally use this platform to catalyse
development and link policy with practice. Eight thematic areas have been identified for this initiative viz.
Economic Transformation; Area Transformation; Natural Resource and Environment; Social Sector; Science
and Technology; Governance Reforms; Defence Studies & Security; and Public Private Partnership &
Infrastructure Finance.
The total number of institutions that have signed MoU with NITI Aayog under the Samavesh initiative is 36 now.
NITI Aayog also has 14 Chair Professor Units which are located at various universities/Institutions. The list of
Chair Professor Units and Samavesh Partners is given below:

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79
 8. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF LABOUR ECONOMICS RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT (NILERD)
The National Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development (NILERD), is an autonomous institute
under NITI Aayog. Primary objectives of this institution include research and data collection in relation to all
major aspects of development, education and training in all aspects of human capital planning, human
resource development and monitoring and evaluation.
A. The research studies completed or in progress during 2018-19 include:
1. Manpower Planning in Odisha: The study is being conducted with the objective to assess the
current scenario of manpower in the state for three sectors viz., agriculture, industry & services; to
assess the requirement of manpower from 2016-17 to 2021-22; to analyze the region-wise skill gap
of manpower by covering the three selected districts namely, Jaipur, Ganjam and Sundargarh; and to
suggest policy options for achieving the set targets for different sectors.
2. Efficacy and Impact of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme of BOAT (Northern
Region): The objectives of the study are to assess the impact of apprenticeship training on
employment, skills of targeted beneficiaries; to identify the bottlenecks in implementation of
Apprenticeship Programme and the Act; and to recommend remedial steps to improve the
effectiveness of NATS. The study has been completed in October, 2018.
3. Efficacy and Impact of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme of BOAT (Southern
Region): The objectives of the study are to assess the impact of apprenticeship training on
employment, skills of targeted beneficiaries; to identify the bottlenecks in implementation of
Apprenticeship Programme and the Act; and to recommend remedial steps to improve the
effectiveness of NATS.
4. Determinants of Missing Middle Phenomenon in Indian Industries: The objectives of the Study
are to examine the characteristics and trends of MSME and large enterprises to identify the missing
middle; to assess the differences of enterprises across different sectors in terms of profitability gaps;
to determine the factors that affect the profitability gaps in different categories of industries and; to
make suitable policy suggestions to address the missing middle problems.

B. Training Programmes conducted by the Institute in 2018

1. Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Planning and Development -
(August, 2017 to July, 2018)
The course was sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, under the schemes -
Indian Technical Economic Cooperation (ITEC) and Special Commonwealth Assistance for Africa
Programme (SCAAP) Scheme. It aimed at providing a firm grounding in the core areas of planning and
development of human resource with focus on providing a holistic perspective, problem solving skills
and adding value to self as well as to the organization. The course was affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh
Indraprastha University, Delhi, India. Ten participants from seven countries namely; Tanzania,
Botswana, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Namibia and Tajikistan attended the programme.

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2. Certificate Course in Human Resource Planning and Development -
(December, 2017 to May, 2018)
The course is unique in its approach in assisting senior and middle level personnel of the Government,
parastatals and academic institutions, currently working or who are likely to work in the future in
planning and development for human resources. Twenty Four participants from 17 developing
countries (Bhutan, Botswana, Chile, Fiji, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mognolia, Niger,
South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda and Zambia) completed the 24 weeks’ certificate
course in Human Resource Planning and Development.

3. International Training Programmes in Human Resource Planning and Development

(June to August 2018)
The programme focuses on enriching knowledge in planning and development of human resources
of senior and middle level officers working with governments in developing countries. The programme
was attended by 26 participants from 12 developing countries. These countries are Nigeria,
Cameroon, Mongolia, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Niger, Sri Lanka, Kyrgystan, Tanzania, Ghana and
Namibia.
4. Certificate Programme in Monitoring & Evaluation (September to October 2018)
The Central Government and the States are increasingly being called upon to demonstrate results at
the levels of projects, programmes and policies. The objective of the programme is to facilitate the
training of civil service officers, planners, educators and trainers in order to enhance their
understanding of contemporary developments in the field of monitoring and evaluation (M&E). The
programme was attended by 27 participants from 20 countries (Botswana, Ethiopia, Jordan, Laos,
Lesotho, Libaria, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles, South Africa, Sri
Lanka, Swaziland, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe)
5. Training Programmes in Manpower Research (August to October 2018):
The training programme on manpower research provides comprehensive knowledge about
systematic manpower planning, including tools and techniques of labour market analysis, labour force
projections, techniques of data analysis, report writing etc. The programme was attended by 27
participants from 16 countries (Afghanistan, Angola, Botswana, Cote D’ Ivoire, Democratic Republic
of Congo, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania
and Zimbabwe)

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 Inauguration and Welcome Session of the training programme on GHRM

6. Training Programmes for the officials of Royal Government of Bhutan

NILERD also conducts tailor made training programmes for national and international participants. In
the series, the institute conducted two training programmes for the Government of Bhutan: A Short
term training on “Customer Service Excellence” was conducted for eight Immigration Assistants and
Inspectors from Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, Bhutan, in June 2018; and another on Effective
Office Management was conducted in July 2018 for 21 Administrative Assistants of Royal Civil
Service Commission, Bhutan.
7. International Training Programme On Global Human Resource Management
(December 2018 – January, 2019):
This programme sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs under ITEC Scheme familiarizes students
with major functional areas in the human resources arena that include: employment law, job analysis,
planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance planning and appraisal
processes, career management, compensation and incentive pay, benefits, health and safety, ethics
and fair treatment, industrial and labor relations, and global human resource management. The
ongoing programme is being attended by 30 participants from 30 countries The programme was
inaugurated by Dr. Yogesh Suri, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog and Director-General, NILERD.

8. ITP on Manpower Information Systems (January to March, 2019)

The training programme on Manpower Information System (MIS) provides comprehensive knowledge
to the participants about the tools and techniques used in developing MIS and its management skills,
which include planning, control, problem solving and communication pertaining to MIS. The
programme is sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs under ITEC scheme.
9. ITP on Global Human Resource management (February to March, 2019)
This programme sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs under ITEC Scheme aims to familiarize

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 participants with major functional areas in the human resources arena that include: employment law,
job analysis, planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance planning
and appraisal processes, career management, compensation and incentive pay, benefits, health and
safety, ethics and fair treatment, industrial and labor relations, and global human resource
management.
10. International Training Programme on Human Capabilities (March to April, 2019)
The Training Programme is sponsored by Ministry of External Affairs. The programme aims to enhance
the knowledge of participants in the area of human factors, human engineering, human abilities,
self-efficacy, ergonomics and good governance.

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SECTORAL
OBJECTIVES
&
ACHIEVMENTS
 1. AGRICULTURE & ALLIED SERVICES
Agriculture key for promoting inclusive growth
NITI Aayog has identified 117 Aspirational districts for transformation through development of education, heath
& nutrition, agriculture & water resources, skill development, financial inclusion and basic infrastructure. For the
successful implementation of agricultural initiatives to improve the key indicators in 27 selected aspirational
districts for which NITI Aayog is the nodal, the Aayog entered into a SOI with the ITC on 25 April 2018 to
transform agricultural situation in these districts. The agricultural indicators are targeted to measure the
improvement in water storage and availability, derisking the farmers, financing the farming, remunerative prices,
diversification and agricultural productivity, soil and animal health.
ITC focuses on capacity building of relevant Government officials, ensuring baseline and end-line data
collection and impact documentation, and government schemes mapping for improving efficiency of delivery.
Capacity building comprises of training of block level extension officers (EOs) as Master Trainers to cascade
the practices to the GP level. Training includes site specific Package of Practices (PoPs) and templates for
seasonal planning. ITC also facilitates easy to follow communication material in different media, including IT
enabled digital services, along with tracking tools to enable farmers to undertake timely operations; and EOs
to send timely intimation and reminders to farmers.

Operation Green
NITI Aayog took a lead role in finalising the Operation Greens programme of Ministry of Food Processing
Industries. Member Prof. Ramesh Chand steered the consultation to decide the interventions relating to
Tomato, Onion, Potato (TOP) under Operation Greens. An emphasis was given to focus more on ‘operations’
than infrastructure, strong market intelligence. Facilitation of operations like aggregation, transport, storage and
professional management by the FPOs along with post-harvest facilities like storage at farm level, collection
centres/ pack house, value addition infrastructure, storage facilities at aggregation, sorting, grading, packing
facilities etc. are included under Operation Greens.

FMD and Glanders disease in Cattles and Equines

Development of National Programme and Strategies required for elimination of foot & mouth disease in cattle
and glanders Disease infestations in equines with the specific time-lines and action plan was discussed with
the experts to achieve the goal of freeing India from these diseases. The strategies to free India from these
diseases were drawn and submitted to PMO.

Action Plan on Oil-seed & Oil-palm

The capacity utilisation of oil processing industry in India is about 40 percent which reflects issues related to
inefficiencies in the processing of oilseeds. NITI Aayog held discussions with industry to seek suggestions for
increasing capacity utilisation to 70-80 percent to reduce cost of supply and improve domestic
competitiveness. It was suggested that there is an immediate need to invest in oilseed technology for local
research development to promote high oleic seeds in soybean, canola, and sunflower seeds. More industry
participation was also sought in procurement schemes. Import duty is an artificial way of boosting
competitiveness as there are domestic reasons for high price as well and it is also evidenced that higher
productivity may not lead to lowering of average prices. The oil palm to be recognised as plantation sector
such as in tea and coffee to pull private investment and for economies of scale. High freight charges have kept
the competitiveness of the industry low. A study to analyse the chain of use of soybean for animal feed in
poultry and dairy industry to be undertaken as it is a cheap source of protein.

Promotion of Zero Budget Natural Farming:

NITI Aayog held a meeting on 9 July, 2018 to discuss the scope for the promotion of Zero Budget Natural
Farming (ZBNF) in entire country on the lines of Andhra Pradesh to bring down the cost of farming, enhancing

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the profit margin for farmers and to sustain the inherent soil properties. Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice-Chairman, NITI
Aayog presided over the conference and Hon’ble Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Acharya Devvrat attended
it as a special guest. About 50 lakh farmers are working on ZBNF in different States. The conference was
concluded with the action points related to (i) Scientific evaluation of ZBNF under multi-locational testing by
ICAR and develop a standard protocol for ZBNF; the ZBNF projects should be implemented in every State
under PKVY and RKVY; (ii) ICAR Scientists may be deployed in each project to compare ZBNF with organic
farming and inorganic farming; the specific crop research institutes need to take up crop specific ZBNF studies
for scientific validation and the protocol should be acceptable for all agro-ecological regions for Kharif and Rabi
crops; (iii) State Agricultural Extension System need to be provided with trainings and other assistance for
appreciation of ZBNF. NITI Aayog agreed to support the scientific research for setting standards and protocols
for the implementation of ZBNF.

Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana in Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh implemented an innovative scheme Bhaavantar Bhugtaan Yojana (BBY). The scheme involved
payment of difference between price received by the farmer and MSP for the produce sold in notified markets of the
State. NITI Aayog conducted a study of the scheme. The scheme incentivised soybean farmers to sell it in the notified
mandis. The BBY resulted in increased proportion of groundnut sale through mandi without any significant effect on
prices. The significant increase in marketing through notified mandis was noticed in case of Arhar following the
introduction of BBY. BBY has helped the farmers to get even better market price. BBY has diverted farmers to sell their
produce from unorganised market to organised market. The market arrivals for other commodities also increased in
APMC mandis due to implementation of BBY in Madhya Pradesh.

Agriculture Subsidy on Area Basis

The amount of total agricultural subsidy including power was estimated at Rs 2.16 lakh crore in 2015-16.
During 2015-16, power subsidy comprised 43% and fertilizer subsidy 34% of the total agricultural subsidy. Per
hectare subsidy during 2015-16 on power and fertilizer has been estimated as Rs 6,173 and Rs 5,168,
respectively. The fertilizer subsidy availed by the farmers varies from zero in Sikkim to Rs 19,973/- in
Puducherry. The top states incurring highest per hectare fertilizer subsidy are Puducherry, Punjab, Haryana,
Uttarakhand, and Bihar. Similarly, the power subsidy varied from zero in states such as Sikkim, Meghalaya,
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, Assam, and Himachal Pradesh to Rs 20,359/- in Tamil Nadu. The top
states incurring highest per hectare power subsidy are Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab and
Puducherry. The present system of input subsidy, being at source, is simple and does not require any record
keeping or registration. Rationalisation of the existing system of subsidy is the best way to address concerns
arising out of diversion of input subsidy. However, shifting from input use subsidy mechanism to area based
mechanism would require many changes which may favour large holders rather than small land owners.
Farmers should be provided Kisan Input Card (KIC) entitling them to use the given subsidy amount to buy wide

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 range of inputs. This can be easily adopted to replace present system of subsidy on fertiliser, seed and other
inputs. If Centre and State governments collaborate, then power subsidy given by the States can also be
added to it but this will require putting in place power meters on all electricity backed pump-sets. Other
important subsidies namely interest subvention and insurance are already in the category of area based DBT.
It will be desirable if both the Centre and State(s) join hands in pooling the subsidies and then adopt alternative
mechanism like DBT.

Crop Diversification Plan for Tobacco

PMO had requested NITI Aayog to analyse cost benefit of tobacco cultivation and prepare an action plan for
implementing crop diversification programme to adopt alternate crops in place of tobacco farming. The draft
crop diversification plan was developed using the inputs on cost: benefit of tobacco cultivation from CTRI and
Tobacco Board as well as NITI’s own analysis. Tobacco is a low volume high value commercial crop grown in
about 0.433 million ha area which is just 0.2 percent of total cropped area but largely concentrated in seven
states and an important source of livelihood in those specific areas. Tobacco farming is an individualized
decision based on assessment of gains from alternatives. The challenge is the high profitability of tobacco
crop. Policy incentives for alternative crops need to focus on both subsidies and output prices in order to
promote non-tobacco crops while maintaining the goal of doubling farmers’ income. According to analysis of
cost of cultivation and net returns of tobacco vis-à-vis other crops, it was found that horticulture crops provide
a higher net return than tobacco, namely potato, sweet potato, sugarcane, fruits and vegetables including
cabbage, brinjal, banana, mango and watermelon. A conscious economic effort was recognised to be made
to increase the yield/productivity of alternatives and creating complete farm-fork-farm value chains for income
realisation at grassroots. A draft crop diversification plan with distinctive components for value chain
development of alternative crops and an in-transition component for farmers was developed and shared with
Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare for comments. A research study to
identify alternate crops in six tobacco dominant districts has also been institutionalised.

Efficiency, Efficacy and Penetration of Micro-Irrigation in India

Micro-irrigation has beneficial impact on water saving and enhancing the efficiency of other critical inputs, it
economises about 25 to 30 per cent of water compared to conventional methods of irrigation. The
micro-irrigation does yield good results, but it has limitations related to credit, energy, application and above all
the post-installation care and support. Besides, a huge amount of private investments are also happening in
this activity, which has so far, not captured by any data base. To get the first hand information through a
structured study on micro-irrigation-its impact, reach out and outreach and the other characteristics which
makes the technology the most successful in some states while the least successful in some of the potential
states, NITI Aayog has commissioned a study to ICAR-National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy
Research (ICAR-NIAE&P), New Delhi. The study is expected to complete by March, 2019.

Health of Soil Health Card Scheme

Government of India launched SHCs scheme on 19th February 2015. The scheme aims to issue soil card to
farmers with crop-wise recommendations for nutrients and fertilizers use at individual farms to help farmers to
improve farms productivity through judicious use of inputs. About 14 crore soil health cards have planned to
be distributed to as many farmers across the country in a phased manner. Soil Health card (SHC) provide
status of 12 parameters (N, P, K - Macro-nutrient); S (Secondary nutrient); Zn, Fe, Cu, Mn, Bo (micronutrient);
and pH, EC, OC (physical parameter) affect crop productivity. It also the contain fertiliser recommendation for
kharif, rabi and summer crop along with advice on the various fertilizers and other soil amendments a farmer
is supposed to make. During Cycle I the achievements were 100% for sample collection and analysis as
reported by the Govt. The Cycle II as also started at satisfactory with SHC printed and distributed are 41.4 %
and 37.8 % of the target, respectively. Agriculture Vertical and ICAR-NBSS&LUP jointly conducted a study in
six States viz, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh to get the first hand on
ground information from all stakeholders and evaluate the sampling and analysis process adopted.

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Impact Assessment of Bundelkhand Package
Bundelkhand package was implemented since 2009. NABCONS conducted a quick evaluation study in
2012-13 to find out the mid-term impact of the package. NITI Aayog commissioned an Impact Assessment
study to TERI in 2017. The study revealed that the package had meaningful impact on improving last mile
delivery of water in irrigation canals, income and employment of beneficiaries and farmers, and reduced
outmigration. The package created indirect employment of 856 lakh mandays in UP and MP. The small and
marginal farmers reported an average increase of Rs 32000 return per ha due to increase in the production of
Rabi crops.
The study recommended following future strategies
• Mapping of all the water bodies and geo-tagging of all dug wells, tube wells, check dams, drinking
water, major, medium and minor irrigation projects etc.
• Water availability and demand modelling based on micro-watershed delineation for the region
• Groundwater quality analysis and atlas for the purpose of sustainable groundwater management
• Water Users Association (WUA) to be evolved further into Water Help Groups (WHGs), with members
trained to take care of water conservation activities - rainwater harvesting and groundwater recharge
structures to manage the seasonal water stress.
• Feasibility of piped water supply linked with perennial source of water
• Establishment of ‘advanced’ milk processing centres, one each in UP and MP equipped with facilities
to create various processed products like milk powder, cheese, butter, etc.
• Defunct milk cooperative societies should be revived
• Dairying loan/ bank guarantee through milk cooperative societies for the purchase of milch animals to
the farmers
• Local handicrafts and activities to be promoted by promoting Self Help Groups, extension of credit
facilities, development of market mechanism etc.

[More on Agriculture Reforms see Section B - Policy and Programme Framework]

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 2. HEALTH AND NUTRITION
The Health & Nutrition Vertical, represents NITI Aayog in various committees and EFC/SFC of Ministry of Health
& Family Welfare, Ministry of AYUSH, Department of Health Research, and Department of Pharmaceuticals. It
is also a part of Scientific Advisory Groups of Indian Council of Medical Research, National Institute of Health
& Family Welfare, Public Health Foundation of India, etc.
Major responsibilities of the Vertical include
• To evolve a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies in the sector of
Health & Family Welfare with the active involvement of States in the light of national objectives.
• To provide advice and encourage partnerships between key stakeholders and national and
international like-minded Think Tanks, as well as educational and policy research institutions in the
sector of Health & Family Welfare.
• To maintain a State-Of-the-Art Resource Centre in the sector of Health & Family Welfare, be a
repository of research on good governance and best practices in sustainable and equitable
development as well as help their dissemination to stake-holder
Major achievements/contributions of the vertical during FY 2018-19 are as follows:

Ayushman Bharat-PM Jan Arogya Yojana

NITI Aayog has played a significant role in strengthening the Ayushman Bharat Scheme. It held extensive peer
review of health benefit packages for PMJAY and recommended 1352 packages. Its recommendations
included adding packages on emergency room packages and mental care packages, etc. NITI also
suggested measures for incentivising healthcare quality and service uptake in Aspirational districts through
development of Standard Treatment Workflow and Costing for Health Benefit Packages.
NITI Aayog consulted various stakeholders and developed way forward titled ‘Building Safeguards and System
Fencing Against Opportunistic Malpractice” in Ayushman Bharat.

Health Outcome Index - Assessing the Performance of States on Health Outcomes

NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) and with technical assistance
of the World Bank has been spearheading the Health Index initiative from 2017
to measure the annual performance of States and UTs on a variety of indicators
– Health Outcomes, Governance and
Processes.

Aspirational Districts Programme

NITI Aayog is partnering with Piramal Foundation on pro bono basis in 25
Aspirational Districts which are exclusively assigned to NITI Aayog. In these
districts NITI-Pirmal Team is fostering the transformation in the health and
nutrition sectors with the involvement of district officers under the leadership of
District Collectors. The district action plans are prepared for effecting the
transformation in the health and nutrition sectors facilitated by development
specialists at district and block levels.

Reforms in the Medical Council of India

The draft National Medical Commission Bill with amendments based on the recommendations of the
Parliamentary Standing Committee was made in collaboration with MOHFW and which was approved by the
Union Cabinet.

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Reforms in Homeopathy Central Council Act and the Indian Medicine Central Council Act
NITI Aayog examined and made recommendations to the draft National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH)
Bill, 2018, National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Bill, 2018 and National Commission for Yoga
& Naturopathy Bill, 2018

Evaluation of Population Research Centres (PRCs)

The vertical held consultative meetings with representatives from PRCs, IIPS Mumbai, PHR and Deptt. of
H&FW in the month of June, 2018 to address the various issues pertaining to PRCs.

Review of Social Marketing Schemes

The Committee under the chairmanship of the Vice Chiarman, NITI Aayog, examined the scheme on social
marketing of contraceptives and recommended for its continuation till the year 2020.

Providing Functional Autonomy to IMS BHU

Officials of the Vertical at NITI Aayog, held extensive deliberations on providing functional autonomy to IMS
BHU, with MoHFW, MoHRD/UGC and Institute of Medical Science (IMS), Banaras Hindu University (BHU). It
was decided to transform the governance, functioning and performance of the IMS, BHU. An MoU on this was
signed between AIIMS, New Delhi MoHRD, MoHFW and BHU.

Provision of Prevention and Treatment Services for Non-Communicable

Diseases
The Vertical developed model concession agreements on PPP mode, for the
provision of prevention and treatment services for Non-Communicable diseases
(cardiac sciences, oncology, and pulmonary sciences) at the district level. The
document was released in October, 2018

Tracking the Performance of District hospitals

A framework was designed to carry out a holistic assessment of hospitals,
which included selected indicators based on which the performance of district
hospitals could be measured. The process to hire a third party for validation of
data in the field has been initiated.

Reforms in Pharmaceutical and Medical Device sector:

a. Pharmaceutical pricing reforms: A detailed report carrying inputs for reforms in the sector was
submitted to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) highlighting the concerns and suggested
roadmap. The proposed amendments in DPCO are under consideration with the government.
b. Trade Margin Rationalisation: NITI had put up a consultation paper on its official website inviting
public comments on ‘Rationalisation of Trade Margins for Medical Devices’; the matter is under
consideration.
c. Ease of Doing Business:
i. Universal and Expeditious adoption of GMPs: NITI Aayog lead a policy development with
the DIPP, DoP, MSME and DoHFW and ‘to come up with a suitable scheme to incentivize
the industries for switching over to GMPs’. The key decisions arrived on, mandatory
adoption of schedule M-GMP compliance at par with WHO-GMP 2017 standards;
ensuring GMP compliance by the entire industry by end of 2019.

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 ii. Effective Implementation of Sugam Portal
NITI Aayog after due consultations with DoP and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), decided
to incorporate submission of data with respect to licensed manufacturing units and drugs by
self-declaration by the manufacturers on the SUGAM portal.
Accordingly, an amendment in the Drugs & Cosmetics Rule was considered by MoHFW
and a draft notification was also issued on 11th July 2018 for soliciting public comments.
iii. Streamlining the process of approval of new drug regulation. The key actions initiated are:
a. Streamlined Stem cell and cell based research approval by authorising the national level
Cell Biology Based Therapeutic Drugs Evaluation Committee (CBBTDEC) as the single
committee to grant approval instead of the earlier three-step approval process.
b. Facilitation cell (FIRST HUB) for biomedical device innovators set up by BIRAC as a
single platform for interface with government stakeholders and resolution of their
queries.
c. Guidelines for therapeutic use (Commercial use) of stem cells and cell-based products
are being developed; will be accomplished in a phased manner over the next three
months by an expert group led by ICMR.
d. Genetherapy and Immunotherapy research guidelines being developed by ICMR and
proposed to be released soon.
e. Clinical trial application submission and tracking has been made online through
SUGAM.
f. MoH&FW recently notified the Draft New Drug and Clinical Trial Rules 2018. These
rules, interalia, have a provision for giving market authorisation by the regulator within 30
days, with a provision for deemed approval.
g. A public relation office (PRO) has been set up at the office of DCGI (CDSCO) as a s ingle
window grievance resolution window for obtaining clarification on any regulatory issues
pertaining to drugs and pharmaceuticals.
iv. Incentivizing Manufacturing of Medical Devices in India
NITI Aayog steered a process to develop policy interventions for incentivizing
manufacturing of medical devices in India. The process identified areas of action on
separate legislation for Medical Device, strengthening of institutional structure of CDSCO,
constitution of a Medical Device Technical Advisory Group, setting up of 2-3 medtech
zones in addition to AMTZ; strengthening the labs and testing etc.
Standards and Certifications of Medical Devices
To give a fillip to ‘Make in India’ in medical devices and ensure that medical devices manufactured, sold,
procured and imported in the country, confirm to internationally benchmarked standards, the Vertical has taken
up the matter separately. This is vital for patient safety, to increase investments in the sector and to boost
exports of indigenously manufactured devices.

Building Capacities for Increase in Medical Specialist Seats in India

NITI has engaged with the National Board of Examinations, private sector hospitals through Industry bodies
and organized sector like Armed force medical services (AFMS), Railway Health Service (RHS) and Employee
State Insurance corporation (ESIC) for identifying way forward to increase the intake and training of specialist
programmes in the country.

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Development of Public Health Cadre
NITI has initiated a work stream to develop a framework for development of Public Health Cadre at Central and
State level. The work has been initiated, consultations with various stake holders have already been
completed.

National Health Mission Evaluation

NITI has initiated process for identifying suitable arrangements to conduct the study in a time bound manner
to evaluate the NHM since its last evaluation in 2011.

Reforms in Nursing Education

NITI Aayog conducted a brainstorming session for transforming Nursing education in India in a view to provide
quality health care to New India. In this regard, the Division is proposing to come out with a model cadre for
nurses with assured career progress.
Developing framework for improving skills of allied health care professionals
The Vertical is working on developing a framework for improving the level and quality of education imparted to
these professionals and improving the skills of the workforce.

3. WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The Women and Child Development Division (WCD) is the nodal division in NITI Aayog that provides policy
guidance and oversees programme implementation of the Ministry of Women & Child Development for
ensuring overall survival, development, protection and participation of women and children, broadly guided by
twin objectives to empower the women to live with confidence, dignity and economic and educational ability
and to nurture their children to develop to their full potential, make them safe, healthy and protective
environments. It also has special focus to improve nutritional outcomes and over all development of children
and adolescent girls.
During the year 2018-19, some of the major activities undertaken by the Division are summed up below:

National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges under POSHAN Abhiyaan

Under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, National Council on India’s Nutritional Challenges
has been constituted to act as an apex body to formulate overall policies, guiding and monitoring all nutrition
based schemes highlighting the life cycle approach. The key role of the Council is also to coordinate and
review convergence among Ministries for providing policy directions to address India’s Nutrition Challenges
through coordinated inter-sectorial action.
The National Council has met three times in 2018. The main issues initiated by NITI Team and finalized during
the Council Meeting have included:
• Finalization of “Package of interventions to be provided during the first 1,000 days of child’s
life”
• Outlined the POSHAN Maah Celebration Framework during September 2018
• Discussion on Food Fortification

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 Quarterly Monitoring of Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)
Following the announcement by the Prime Minister, for the implementation of (PMMVY) in all the districts of the
country in accordance with the provision of the National Food Security Act, 2013, NITI Aayog has been
assigned the task of monitoring and evaluating it.
According to the programme all pregnant women and lactating mothers whose first child has been born on or
after January 2017 are eligible. The objective is to provide partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of
cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child, and
the cash incentive provided would lead to improved health seeking behavior amongst the PW&LM.
Accordingly, five quarterly reports have been prepared with inputs received from MWCD and State and shared
with PMO.
Due to the constant monitoring and facilitation effort of NITI Aayog, nationally 52 Lakhs of PW&LM women have
been benefitted (amounting a total of Rs. 1300 Crore) under the scheme till October, 2018

Creation of Technical Support Unit (TSU) for anchoring the work of POSHAN Abhiyaan
The WCD Division of NITI Aayog has set up a Technical Support Unit (TSU) under POSHAN Abhiyaan for
monitoring and evaluation, policy research, programme review and effective coordination and convergence
between Ministries under POSHAN Abhiyaan, which will have a sectorial responsibility for addressing nutrition
challenges in India. The TSU will play a catalytic role in driving POSHAN Abhiyaan towards the aim of achieving
malnutrition free India.

Appraisal and examination of MoWCD Schemes

The WCD division, in collaboration with other verticals of NITI (Project Appraisal and Management Division (PAMD) and
Development of Monitoring and Evaluation (DMEO)), examined the Expenditure Finance Committee’s (EFC)
Memorandum for Appraisal for a number of schemes. The sub-schemes: Child Protection Services and the National
Crèche Scheme, under the umbrella Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), were examined for continuation
from 2018-19 to 2019-20. For enhancement of honorarium and extending welfare AWWS and AWHS, and SFC
proposals in respect of Home for Widows (Central Sector component of Umbrella Scheme for Protection and
Empowerment for Women) and National Women Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC).

First bi-annual report on POSHAN Abhiyaan

To monitor and fast track the progress of the POSHAN Abhiyaan, the Technical Support Unit (TSU) prepared
the first bi-annual report on the progress of POSHAN Abhiyaan along with strategic recommendations for
effective implementation of the programme. The report contains a preparedness index reflecting the level of
readiness of States for implementation of the POSHAN Abhiyaan.

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Conceptualisation and Conduct of Rashtriya POSHAN Maah in September, 2018
WCD division has played a pivotal role in conceptualizing and conducting the rashtriya POSHAN Maah as
National Nutrition Month across the country in the month of September, 2018. POSHAN Maah had eight Key
themes, namely, antenatal care, optimal breastfeeding, complementary feeding, anemia, growth monitoring,
education; diet and right age of marriage for girls, hygiene and sanitation and food fortification. Stakeholders
across India organized more than 23 lakh activities and reached out to approximately 27 crore people at grass
roots to spread the messages on importance of POSHAN and popularized that how every family can easily
access government services to supplement nutrition for their children and pregnant/lactating mothers.

Work related to National Technical Board of Nutrition (NTBN)

Under the Chairmanship of Dr. V.K Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, National Technical Board of Nutrition (NTBN) has
been constituted to provide technical, responsive and evidence based recommendations on the policy
relevant issues in concerning Nutrition for women and children. The second board meeting of NTBN to
discuss India’s nutrition issues was held on 29 August 2018.
The NTBN has examined and finalized the operational guidelines on prevention of malnutrition and community
based management of severe acute malnutrition (c-MAM); and operational guidelines on Infant and Young
Child Feeding (IYCF).

Field Visits to Aspirational Districts and High Priority States

WCD Division of NITI Aayog undertook field visits to Aspirational Districts and high priority States like Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, - in August and October 2018, to provide strategic support to States for accelerating
effective implementation of PMMVY and POSHAN Abhiyaan.

Representation of NITI Aayog at various Committees and Fora

The Division represented NITI Aayog in different Committees constituted by Ministry of Women & Child
Development under their various schemes. The Division also represented NITI Aayog as a Member of
Governing Board of Rastriya Mahila Kosh(RMK) and General Body and Executive Council of ‘National Institute
of Public Cooperation and Child Development’ (NIPCCD), and ‘Central Social Welfare Board’ (CSWB).

Schematic Briefs for PM Visit to States

The Division also prepared briefs on major schemes of Ministry of WCD for PMO for PM’s visit to States.
Besides providing information about the performance of the Flagship Scheme i.e. Integrated Child
Development Services Scheme (ICDS), it also highlighted the issues concerning the sector in the States and
UTs and reiterated the need for close monitoring of the implementation of the scheme

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 4. GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH
In line with NITI’s mandate to position itself as a knowledge and innovation hub, NITI Aayog is now in the
process of launching a new set of guidelines viz. ‘Research Scheme of NITI Aayog 2018’. The revamped
guidelines aim at broad basing the research work besides providing assistance to reputed institutions for
organizing seminars/ workshops/ conferences besides non-financial support through use of NITI Logo
support for various events.
During the year 2018-19 (up to December 2018), a total Grant of Rs. 115.13 lakh was released which
comprised Rs 112.56 lakh on research studies and Rs 2.57 lakh on seminars/workshops/ conferences.
Proposals for funding 15 new research studies (Table 1.1) while seven ongoing research studies were
completed during the year (Table1.2). Besides, seminar support was provided to two institutions and logo
support was provided to 25 Institutions for events across a wide spectrum of subjects/ sectors.
The study reports/seminars proceedings are received both in hard and soft copies. All these research study
reports are uploaded on the website of NITI Aayog for easy accessibility, exchange of views and wider use in
research as well as development. Copies of these reports and seminar proceedings are also circulated to
concerned verticals/divisions within NITI Aayog. The concerned divisions in the NITI Aayog examine these
reports and send them to their concerned Ministries/Departments for further action.

Policy Perspectives
1. Direct Benefit Transfers in Fertilizers: The Committee set up by PMO under the chairmanship of
CEO, NITI Aayog for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) in fertilizers continued to guide the initiative. By
March 2018, Phase-I of DBT in Fertilizers, which envisages transfer of fertilizer subsidy to companies
on the sale of fertilizers at retailer point through Point of Sales (PoS) devices was completed and rolled
out in the entire country. NITI Aayog conducted evaluation studies on DBT in Fertilizers through M/s
Microsave, which have shown encouraging results and remarkable success in implementation.
2. Revival of non-operational Urea units: Three closed urea units of Fertilizers Corporation India
Limited (FCIL) and two closed units of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Limited (HFCL) are being revived
by a consortium of PSUs. An Inter-Ministerial Consultation under the Chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog
has been actively monitoring the revival of these units and resolving the issues encountered during the
process. These units being set up in Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni are expected to significantly reduce
India’s dependency on imports of urea.
3. Talcher Fertilizer Unit: The Talcher Fertilizer Unit is one of the units which is being revived under
FCIL. To oversee the processes of revival, a Committee had been set up under the Chairmanship of
CEO, NITI Aayog, under which comprehensive discussions on the subject have taken place. The urea
plant in Talchar is envisaged to use the coal gasification technology for the first time in India, thus
reducing dependency on imported gas and curtailing volatility in fertilizer prices. The foundation stone
for the plant was laid by Hon’ble Prime Minister in September 2018.
4. Promoting Millets through the Public Distribution System (PDS): In order to promote millets
under Public Distribution System and provide nutritional support, a Committee had been constituted
last year under the Chairmanship of Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog. The report of the
Committee titled, “Improving Nutrition through Promotion of Millets under Public Distribution System”,
has been submitted to the Government for consideration.
5. Expert Group on Target Energy Norms: An expert group has been constituted under the
Chairmanship of Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog to provide recommendations on Target
Energy Norms, w.e.f. 1st April, 2025. The objective is to maximize indigenous urea production,

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 promote energy efficiency among urea units and rationalize subsidy burden of the Government for
urea. The expert group is also deliberating the roadmap for urea units which use coal for power
generation and / or steam generation. So far two meetings of the expert group have been held in
2018, which included consultation with industry representatives to better understand the complexity
of the fertilizer sector.
6. Workshop on Best Practices in International Arbitration: NITI Aayog, in association with the ICC
International Court of Arbitration (‘ICC Court’) organized a Brainstorming Workshop on Best Practices
in International Arbitration on October 10, 2018 in New Delhi. The programme was attended by over
200 officers from Central and State Governments, Public Sector Undertakings, etc. The workshop
helped the participants acquire knowledge and practical insights about Arbitration besides
amendments to the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996. This would complement the initiative and give
the much-needed impetus, not only to ‘Make in India’ but also to ‘Resolve in India’.
7. Task Force on Sugarcane & Sugar Industry: A task force has been constituted under the
Chairmanship of Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog to find long term solutions for sugarcane
and sugar industry so as to rationalize their dependence on state assistance while at the same time
encourage farm diversification to reduce adverse effect on water sector. Technical support to the task
force is being provided by the Department of Food & Public Distribution.

TABLE-1.1: LIST OF NEW RESEARCH STUDIES APPROVED

DURING THE YEAR 2018-19.*
Sl.
No. Name of the Topic Name of the Institution/ Organisation
1 Review of Udaan Scheme in Jammu & Kashmir. Bureau of Research on Industry & Economic
Fundamentals Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
2. Reviewing the visitor facilities at 50 of the 116 Development Oriented Operations Research
ticketed monuments (including world Heritage Surveys, Noida
sites) for suggesting the way forward for making
them world class tourist places
3. Evaluation of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas Development Oriented Operations Research
Scheme Surveys, Noida
4. Efficiency of Micro Irrigation in Economising National Institute of Agricultural Economics and
water use in India Policy Research, New Delhi
5. Sample Survey and Study under section 12(1)(c) Development & Research Services Pvt. Ltd,
New Delhi
6. Development of Management Action Plan to Wild Life Institute of India, Dehradun
Mitigate Human Crocodile conflicts in Andaman
& Nicobar Islands.
7. Improving the Effectiveness of Jan Aushadi BML Munjal University, Gurgaon
Stores
8. Action Research for Waste Reduction Chintan Environmental Research and Action
Group, New Delhi
9. Measures to Augment the Resources of the PRIs. Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi.

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 Sl.
No. Name of the Topic Name of the Institution/ Organisation

10 New Approaches to PPP focussing on the Airport CRISIL Risk & Infrastructure Solutions Limited
Urban Rail & Integrated Solid Waste Management
Sectors
11. Redevelopment of Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
Complex- Sports Authority of India (SAI) under
Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode
12. Redevelopment of Indira Gandhi Stadium Ernst & Young Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi
Complex- Sports Authority of India (SAI) under
Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode
13. Impact Assessment of the Prime Minister's Centre for Economic Policy Research, Amritsar
Kaushal Vikas Yojana".
14. Setting up Solar Projects of 300 GW to 500 CRISIL Risk & Infrastructure Solutions Limited
GW by 2030
15. DPR for Development of Ek Bharat, IIT Patna, Bihar
Shrestha Bharat Development Tools
16. Adoption of Natural Farming and its effect on ICAR- National Academy of Agricultural
Crop Yield & Farmers Livelihood in India. Research Management, Hyderanad
17. Land Use/Land Cover Mapping of Great Nicobar Forest Survey of India, Dehradun
Island on a large Scale using very high
Resolution satellite data for development planning
with emphasis on forest conversation
18. Land Use/Land Cover Mapping of Little Andaman Forest Survey of India, Dehradun
Island on a large Scale using very high Resolution
satellite data for development planning with
emphasis on forest conversation
19. Development of Water Resources in little WAPCOS
Andaman & Great Nicobar Islands.
20. Reclamation of Land in Little Andaman & WAPCOS
Great Nicobar Islands.
21. Evaluation of Integrated Child Development Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi
Services Scheme.

* Upto 10th January, 2019

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 TABLE-1.2: LIST OF RESEARCH STUDIES COMPLETED
DURING THE YEAR 2018-19.*
Sl.
No. Name of the Topic Name of the Institution/ Organisation
1 Effectiveness of PRIs in Health Care System in Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and
the State of Madhya Pradesh: Impact of Duality Human Resources, New Delhi
and role of Bureaucracy in New Approaches.
2. Socio Economic Impact Study of Mining and Indian Council of Forestry Research and
Mining Policies on Livelihoods of Local Population Education, Dehradun
in Vindhyan Region of Uttar Pradesh
3. Use of ICT in Secondary schools in six states. Education Quality Foundation of India, New Delhi
4. Catalyzing Actions for District Development Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA),
Planning by Consolidating local Priorities New Delhi
5. Highlighting Impact of decision in Highway CUTS International, Jaipur
matter on economy in general and specific
stakeholders.
6. State Finances of West Bengal Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata
7. Composite Water Resources Management Dalberg Global Development Advisors Pvt. Ltd,
Index for Indian States. New Delhi
8. Research Study on Impact of Power Sector Centre for Study of Science, Technology and
Growth on Water Resources Policy (C-STEP), Bangalore
9. Research Proposal on Energy-Water Nexus & Council on Energy, Environment and Water,
Efficient Water Cooling Technologies for New Delhi
Thermal Power Plants in India .
10. Research Study on Energy, Food & Water Nexus Integrated Research & Action for Development,
New Delhi
11. Research Study on Integrated Modelling Study The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),
of Energy-Water-Food Nexus in India New Delhi
12. Impact of special package for drought mitigation The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI),
implemented in Bundelkhand Region of UP and New Delhi
MP states during the period of 12th FIve Year Plan
* Upto 10th January, 2019

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 5. HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT
The Human Resources Development (HRD) Vertical deals with issues related to Education, Sports and Youth
Affairs. The line Ministries of the Vertical are Ministry of HRD (Department of School Education and Literacy and
Department of Higher Education) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS). However, education related
to agriculture and allied sectors, public health, and medical are not the domain areas of HRD Vertical. The HRD
Vertical covers (a) pre-primary, elementary, secondary, higher secondary, higher, technical and teacher
education; (b) formal and non-formal education including adult literacy; (c) areas of special focus such as
education for girls, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Minorities and also Children with Special Needs;
and (d) Youth Affairs and Sports.

Contribution in Policy and Governance Issues

During the year 2018-19, the officers of the vertical participated in meetings of as member/representative of
member of Project Approval Boards (PABs) of MHRD such as Samagra Shiksha, Mid-Day Meal in Schools
(MDMS), Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT), Rashtriya
Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), National Initiative for Design Innovation, National Mission on Education
through ICT (NMEICT), Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) besides others. The
officers of the Vertical represented NITI Aayog in various meetings organized by institutions like National
Institute of Educational Planning the Administration (NIEPA), National Council of Educational Research and
Training (NCERT) etc.
The HRD Vertical took various initiatives on policy issues during the year including analysing the progress of
major flagship programmes (viz. Samgra Shiksha, MDMS, Autonomous Colleges, UGC, AICTE Review,
framing rules as per new IIM Act, 2017) and deliberating on outstanding issues in school and higher education
for the preparation of folders for PM’s domestic visits.

Proposals Examined/ Appraised

During the year 2018-19, the HRD Vertical actively participated in the activities related to the 12th Plan
schemes. The Vertical examined proposals for 'in-principle' approval and those for the approval of Standing
Finance Committee/ Expenditure Finance Committee/ Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(SFC/EFC/CCEA), Draft Cabinet Notes and the Notes for Cabinet in respect of the schemes of Departments
of School Education and Literacy, Higher Education (both under MHRD) and Department of Sports and Youth
Affairs (both under M/o YAS).

The appraisals of proposal received from Department of Higher Education and DSE&L, MHRD:
The Higher Education Unit of the vertical has done appraisal of the Draft Cabinet Notes on:
1. Promotion for a new scheme of Adult Education (Padhna Likhna Abhiyan) for the financial year
2018-19 & 2019-20
2. Amendment of National Institute of Technology, Science Education and Research Act, 2007 to include
National Institute of Foundry and Forge (NIFF) and National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE)
under the ambit of Principal Act
3. Proposal for formation of Subsidiary Company of EdCIL
4. The Higher Education Commission of India Bill, 2018 (Repeal of the University Grants Commission
Act, 1956), to provide for establishment of the Higher Education Commission of India for promoting
the quality of academic instruction and maintenance of academic standards
5. Promulgation of an Ordinance to provide for the reservation of faculty in appointments by direct
recruitment of persons belonging to the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward
Classes, in the Central Educational Institutions and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

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 6. Signing of MoU between Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India
and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on Human Resource Development, for
cooperation in the field of online education
7. Cabinet Note on signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Ministry of Human
Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India and the Government of Islamic Republic of
Afghanistan on Cooperation in the field of Human Resource Development.
8. Note for the Cabinet for this conversion of 3 Sanskrit Deemed Universities in to Central Universities.
Further, the Vertical has given inputs to the Tourism Unit of SC&DP Vertical on draft note for Cabinet on
“Upgradation of National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) to an Institution
of National importance (INI) to be named as National Institute of Hospitality Management (NIHM) by an Act of
Parliament with powers to award degrees, diploma and certificates in its field of competence in India”.
The appraisal of Draft EFC/ EFC/Committee on Establishment Expenditure (CEE) proposals has been done by
the HE Unit of the Vertical for the proposals of Department of Higher Education viz.
• Draft EFC Memorandum for Establishment and operationalisation of Permanent Campus of IISER
Tirupati and IISER Berhampur”
• EFC Memorandum for Revised Cost Estimates for the establishment of Indian Institute of Information
Technology (IIITs) at Jabalpur and Kancheepuram
• EFC Memorandum for Appraisal of National Apprenticeship Training Scheme (NATS) implemented by
Ministry of Human Resource Development
• EFC Memorandum for Revised Cost of Estimates (RCE) for 11 new Central Universities in the States
of Bihar, Haryana, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and
Tamil Nadu, set up under Central Universities Act, 2009”;
• Draft CEE Memorandum for Establishment of two (02) full-fledged Schools of Planning and
Architecture (SPAs) and l8 Departments of Planning and Architecture (DPAs) within the existing
IITs/NITs through Challenge Method”.
• EFC on e-Sodh Sindhu
The Standing Finance Committee (SFC) proposals has been appraised in the Vertical viz.
(i) “SFC Memorandum for Approval of 7 Projects of IIT Roorkee”;
(ii) “SFC Memorandum for Approval of Five Projects of IIT Delhi”;
(iii) “SFC Memorandum for Appraisal of Scheme: Impactful Policy Research In
Social Science (IMPRESS)”;
(iv) “SFC Memorandum for Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC)
Programme”
(v) “Draft SFC Memorandum for increasing the National Talent Search (NTS) Scholarships from 1000 to
2000 per year”;
(vi) “SFC Memorandum for Approval of 7 Projects of IIT Madras”;
(vii) “SFC Proposal for Phase-II Development of Ghani Khan Choudhary Institute of Engineering &
Technology, Malda, West Bengal”;
(viii) “SFC Memorandum for Approval of 6 Projects of IIT (ISM) Dhanbad”;
(ix) “Draft SFC Memorandum for funding of Rs. 383.78 crore to National Institute of Technology (NlT)
Warangal during the financial year 2018-19 from Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA); and

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 (x) “SFC Memorandum for establishment of permanent campus for NIT Goa”.
(xi) SFC Memorandum for ‘Young professionals for Higher Education’
(xii) Draft SFC Memorandum for Scheme for Transformational and Advanced Research in Sciences
(STARS) of Ministry of Human Resource Development.
(xiii) Approval of 3 Projects of IIT BHU under Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA).

The appraisals of proposal received from Department of School Education and Literacy, MHRD:
The School Education Unit of the Vertical has done appraisal of the Draft Cabinet Notes/CCEA/EFCs/SFCs on
the subjects:
(i) Draft Note for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for continuation of Mid-Day Meal
Scheme (MDMS) in Schools;
(ii) Modification of decision of CCEA for setting up of 50 new Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) under Civil /
Defence Sector all over the country under ‘Challenge Mode’;
(iii) Draft Note for CCEA for the formulation of a new Integrated Scheme on School Education from 1st
April, 2018 to 31st March, 2020;
(iv) EFC proposal for enhancing the intake capacity in existing Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) in
25 Districts- worst affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) and establishment of second JNVs in 6
districts worst affected by LWE;
(v) EFC proposal for the formulation of a new Integrated Scheme on School Education from 1st April,
2018 to 31st March, 2020;
(vi) EFC proposal for national scheme for incentives to girls for secondary education
(vii) SFC for Introduction of Sainik School like features in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNVs); and
(viii) SFC for Restructured Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Financial Assistance for Appointment of
Language Teachers (ATL).

Miscellaneous Activities
The Vertical also examined (i) proposals sent by NGOs and trusts for funding research studies/evaluation
studies, (ii) Research Reports on education submitted by various researchers to Governance & Research
Vertical of NITI Aayog, and (iii) issues raised by Chief Ministers of the States. The State issues in Education and
Sports and Youth Affairs has been taken up to the line Ministries and coordinated for finding the logical
solutions. The Vertical also handled VIP/PMO references, public grievances, RTI related matters, preparation
of outcome budget and provided material for inclusion in the President's Budget Speech, Parliament and
various budget related issues. Under NITI Internship Programme, interns from various leading institutions from
across the country have been provided internship training.

Youth Affairs and Sports

Seventy percent of India’s population is below the age of 35 years. To harness the “Yuva Shakti” in
nation-building, various programmes/ schemes are being implemented by the Ministry of Youth Affairs &
Sports related to problems related to adolescent and youth. The major programme for improvement in
performance of sportspersons in international competitions like Asian Games, South Asian Games,
Commonwealth Games and Olympics, the scheme of Khelo India has been launched by Department of
Sports. During the period 2018-19, officials of the Vertical attended the meetings of Ministry of Youth Affairs
and Sports on different issues.

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6. SKILL DEVELOPMENT AND EMPLOYMENT
The Skill Development and Employment Vertical of NITI Aayog plays a key role in accelerating policy-driven
initiatives in imparting training to the youth to strengthen the human capital of the nation and identifying as well
as offering solutions to critical issues concerning employment, jobs & livelihood creation and social security.
The vertical works closely with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and the Ministry
of Labour and Employment (MoLE) in formulating, coordinating, appraisal, analysis and monitoring of various
schemes, legislations, programs and projects related to skill development, labour and employment. The
vertical collaborates with various national and international bodies and experts to identify the different areas that
require mid-course corrections to come out with suggestions and action points. These are reflected in the
research and policy-related work of the vertical.

Skill Development in Aspirational Districts

• NITI Aayog has identified 117 districts to ensure the transformation of under-developed pockets of
India on the objective criteria pertaining to education, health & nutrition, financial inclusion & skill
development, agriculture & water resources and basic infrastructure. In the skill sector, five indicators
that summarize the aspects of accessibility, quality, equity and relevance of coordinated skill
development efforts in the country are being monitored real time to ensure transformation of
aspirational districts. The key performance indicators are available on the live dashboard - ‘Champions
of Change.’
• The vertical is working with various stakeholders and agencies in the aspirational districts to impart skill
training to the youth, ensure certification and employment opportunities for trained youth. Special
emphasis is laid on youth from the vulnerable/ marginalized sections of the society. Partner
organisations such as L&T Ltd., Friends’ Union for Energizing Lives (FUEL) and Lupin Foundation.
FUEL through its Career Guidance and Skilling Centres (CGSC) is providing one-to-one solutions for
employment and entrepreneurship and also organising career fests and job fairs in aspirational
districts of Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. L&T ltd. has set-up Skill Development Centres in Baran
district of Rajasthan and Khandwa district, Madhya Pradesh, where it is imparting skill training in the
trades of masonry, bar bending and form work. L&T would be adopting ITIs in certain districts where
it would undertake activities such as designing the course curriculum, training of trainers, developing
course content such as e-manuals etc. Adopt Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in consultation with
State Govt. Lupin Foundation is providing skill training in the trade of data entry operator, mobile
repairing, two wheeler repairing, sewing, data entry etc. in Dholpur, Vidisha and Nandurbar districts.

Payroll Reporting
In pursuance to the recommendations of the Task Force on Improving Employment Data, NITI Aayog has
started an initiative to report the progress made in formal employment using measurable data from
administrative records. Payroll reporting for formal sector has been introduced for the first time in India to
facilitate analysis of new and continuing employment. Data of Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO),
Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and National Pension Scheme (NPS) is cleaned, aggregated
and made available on their websites for public consumption. The Ministry of Statistics & Programme
Implementation (MoSPI) is creating a consolidated payroll report by taking the data from these three sources.
This report presents the number of new subscribers who have availed benefits under three major schemes,
namely, the Employees’ Provident Fund, Employees’ State Insurance Scheme and the National Pension
Scheme.

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 Collation of Employment Data for Professional Bodies
NITI Aayog, in consultation with the Ministry of Programme & Implementation and Ministry of Labour &
Employment is developing a methodology for collation of employment data from professional bodies such as
those of architects, engineers, charted accountants, lawyers etc. to come up with improved estimations for
employment in the formal sector in India. NITI Aayog is working towards collation of periodic updates of
employment data from these organisations.

7. RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Rural Development Vertical of the NITI Aayog provides overall policy guidance to the Department of Rural
Development within the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation in
programmes and schemes implemented by them. The Vertical also monitors the progress of the various
schemes/programmes.
Activities of the vertical this year were:

Dashboard on Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Grameen (PMAY-G)

NITI Aayog has developed Monthly & Quarterly Dashboard on Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana - Grameen
(PMAY-G) and Quarterly Dashboard on Deendayal Antyodya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission
(DAY-NRLM), to monitor and fast track the progress of housing sector and rural livelihood mission. The monthly
dashboard on PMAY-G is under direct supervision of Prime Minister’s office.

Working Groups on Sustainable Development in the Mountains of Indian Himalayan Region

NITI Aayog constituted five thematic Working Groups on Sustainable Development in the Mountains of Indian
Himalayan Region in 2017. The Working Groups were namely: (i) Inventory and Revival of Springs in Himalayas
for Water Security, (ii) Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region, (iii) Shifting Cultivation: Towards
Transformation Approach, (iv) Strengthening Skill & Entrepreneurship (E&S) Landscape in Himalayas and (v)
Data/Information for Informed Decision Making. The reports of the Working Groups along with the Summary
Report on Sustainable Development in the Mountains of Indian Himalayan Region were released in August
2018 by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, Dr. V. K. Saraswat, Member and Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI
Aayog. The reports are uploaded on the NITI’s website.
On the basis of the Recommendations of Five thematic Working Group Reports, NITI Aayog has constituted
‘Himalayan State Regional Council’ for Sustainable Development in Indian Himalayan Region on 9th November
2018 to review the implementation of the identified action points based on the Reports. Dr. V. K. Saraswat,
Member, NITI Aayog will Chair the Council. The Chief Secretaries of the 12 Himalayan States, Secretaries of
M/o Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, M/o Environment, Forest and Climate Change, M/o Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship, M/o Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, M/o Tourism, D/o Rural
Development, Land Resources and Science and Technology, VC and MD of Telangana Forest Development
Corporation, Government of Telangana, Director General, ICIMOD, Kathmandu, Nepal and Advisers of NITI
Aayog will be part of the Council.
The Council will be the nodal agency for sustainable development in the Himalayan Region and will monitor the
implementation of action points for Central Ministries, institutions and the l2 Himalayan State Governments in
IHR. It will also monitor finance related matters and will have the power to co-opt other members as deemed
fit to best suit the overall objective of the Sustainable Development of IHR.

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8. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in September 2015 as a part of the resolution,
‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. India is committed to achieve the 17
SDGs and the 169 associated targets, which comprehensively cover social, economic and environmental
dimensions of development and focus on ending poverty in all its forms and dimensions. At the Central
Government level, NITI Aayog has been assigned the role of overseeing the implementation of SDGs in the
country.
To spread awareness about the Goals, bring together stakeholders and build capacities for the realization of
SDGs, NITI Aayog has organized several national and regional level consultations.

National level consultations

In February 2018, a National Workshop on capacity development for localising the SDGs was held. Union
Territories (UTs) and 23 states, as well as other relevant stakeholders participated in the workshop.
Another National Consultation on SDG 1 and associated targets was held in March 2018, which saw Central
Ministries, States/UTs and other stakeholders discuss policies, implementation strategies and best practices.

The private sector is an important stakeholder in the implementation of SDGs. Recognising this, a government
and business partnership conclave was held in August 2018 to sensitise businesses and industries in the
private sector and analyse their programme strategies on various SDGs.
The Task Force on Implementation of SDGs held two meetings to take stock of SDGs at the national level.
Progress on implementation of SDGs at the state level was reviewed through a series of meetings with States
and UTs.

Regional level forums on SDG

The central platform for international follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda is the High-Level Political Forum
(HLPF), which meets annually under the auspices of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

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 As a regional preparatory for the HLPF, the Asia-Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) was held
for the fifth time at Bangkok in Mar 2018, under the chairmanship of Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI
Aayog. Around 600 participants joined the event, where States, United Nations bodies, international
organizations and other stakeholders engaged in deliberations on the theme, “Transformation towards
sustainable and resilient societies”.
The Forum reviewed progress on the identified SDGs to be discussed at the next HLPF as well as the
interlinkages across all Goals. The Forum facilitated experience sharing between countries who have already
presented their Voluntary National Reviews at the HLPF and those who were to present theirs at the HLPF
2018 to be held in the month of July at New York.
The Forum also took stock of the regional progress made in respect implementing the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific.

South Asia Forum on Sustainable Development

The South Asia Forum on the Sustainable Development Goals, 2018 was co-organized by NITI Aayog, United
Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and RIS in October 2018, to
enhance awareness on challenges and opportunities for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda; generate
reflections on sub-regional perspectives and good practices on the Goals under review at the HLPF in 2019;
and identify ways to strengthen partnerships and implementation efforts.

Representatives from South Asian countries, prominent think tanks and academia as well as regional and
sub-regional organizations supporting implementation of SDGs participated in the Forum. Key focal areas of
the deliberations were the scope and options for improving the regional/sub-regional policy environment for
implementation of SDGs and capacity development of key stakeholders.

Revised Mapping of Ministries, Centrally Sponsored and Central Sector Schemes

A mapping exercise of Central Ministries and Centrally Sponsored /Central Sector Schemes was revised to
include more schemes and reflect more comprehensively the interconnectedness of SDGs.

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Monitoring Progress on SDGs
NITI Aayog finalised and released the SDG India Index – Baseline Report 2018 in December 2018, to track the
progress of all the States and Union Territories (UTs) on the priority Indicators, measuring their achievements
and failures on the outcomes of the interventions and schemes of the central Government.

The SDG India Index has been developed to provide a holistic view on the social, economic and environmental
status of the country and its States and UTs. It will also go a long way in helping analyse and identify best
practices and priority areas, giving direction to developmental policies.
[For a detailed note on the SDG India Index see Section C – Monitoring & Evaluation]

9. ENERGY AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Draft National Energy Policy 2018
NITI Aayog in consultation with knowledge partners, stakeholders, ministries and related departments
formulated the Draft National Energy Policy which was discussed at Prime Minister Level in a meeting held on
17 May, 2017. After receiving inputs from public as well as respective ministries, the draft National Energy
Policy was revised and has been circulated the ministries for inter-ministerial consultation.
There are four key objectives of National Energy Policy: (a) Access at rational prices; (b) Improved security and
Independence; (c) Greater Sustainability and Economic Growth; and (d) Enhanced competitiveness of the
Indian economy and ability to meet the rising demand efficiently.

Energy Data Management

Work related to improved energy data collection, management and dissemination, a workshop on Energy Data
Management with officials of NITI Aayog, Energy related Ministries, International Energy Agency (IEA) and
Energy Data Management Agencies in India was held in NITI Aayog on 27 - 28 March, 2018. The discussion
in the workshop led to constitution of working groups on energy supply side and demand side. Under the
supply side working group four sub groups (Electricity, Coal, Renewable Energy and Oil& Gas) and under
demand side working group four sub-groups (Transport, Industry, Agriculture and Buildings) have been
constituted. The broad mandate of the sub-groups is to identify to assess the existing data maintained by
different agencies/Govt. bodies, identify the gaps, the frequency of collection of data and suggest measures
to fill the data gaps, online updation of data, frequency of updation of data. The sub-groups should also
suggest the need of statutory requirements, if any for collecting important data from the public, private
companies.

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 GIS Based Energy Map
Sustainable Growth Working Group under India-US Energy Dialogue framework led the initiatives of developing
integrated and dynamic GIS-based Energy Map of India. In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding
between NITI Aayog and ISRO was signed on June 7, 2017, for the development of Geospatial Energy Portal
for India. To facilitate the work GIS map development, nodal officers from each ministry (related to energy) have
been appointed. ISRO has developed a proto-type of GIS Energy Map for India in 2018.

India Energy Data Dashboard

Work has been assigned to Prayas Energy for developing energy dashboard. This dashboard contains time
series data for energy sector. This is available on the website www.indiaenergy.gov.in. In the second phase of
the exercise, NITI Aayog is putting its effort make the energy dashboard much more robust and which will have
provision for online updation of data. This will also encompass the GIS mapping of energy which is under
finalisation by ISRO.

Strategic Storage of Crude Oil

A Committee was constituted under the chairmanship of CEO, NITI Aayog to finalise the report on
Construction and filling up of Strategic Petroleum Reserves at different locations Padur, Karnataka
(Underground Rock Cavern-2.50 MMT), Chandikhol, Orissa (Underground Rock Cavern-3.75 MMT), Bikaner,
Rajasthan (Underground Salt Cavern -3.75 MMT) ,Rajkot, Gujarat (Underground Concrete Tanks 2.50 MMT).
The Committee constituted under CEO finalised its recommendation and submitted to PMO.

Clean Cooking Roadmap

NITI Aayog with the help of the Council on Energy, Water and Environment (CEEW) and GIZ, Germany has prepared
a draft Roadmap for Clean Cooking Energy for the country and forwarded to Ministries for obtaining their views.
Note on Comparative Analysis of different cooking fuels was prepared by NITI Aayog and shared with MoPNG
to complement the PMUY scheme and also take view on the clean cooking strategy for the country.

State Renewable Energy Roadmap 2030

NITI Aayog in consultation with DFID, CII appointed consultants PWC and Deloitte for preparation of state
Re-Roadmap for about 10 states (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Assam). The state action plans have been prepared for all the states
except Tamilnadu.

Overseas Engagements
1. NITI Aayog and IEA in association with ADB organized four regional workshops (Southern, Western,
Northern, North-Eastern and Eastern Region) in India in April, 2018. These workshops focused on flexible
generation and storage solutions to address the issue of grid stability for upcoming Renewable Energy
integration. The workshop report was released jointly by NITI Aayog, IEA & ADB on 19th July, 2018.

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 2. Under the bilateral cooperation between NITI Aayog and Government of UK, NITI Aayog has taken up
development of state energy calculator for the interested states. In the first phase, three states - Andhra
Pradesh, Gujarat and Assam, were taken up. In order to advance the partnership further, both the
Governments intend to extend this collaboration until the end of March 2019. Accordingly, a statement of
principles was signed between NITI Aayog and Govt. of UK to supports three more states viz; Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra and Karnataka to develop and use state calculators and strengthening their capacity.
3. Joint Research Projects between NITI Aayog and Institute
of Energy Economics Japan (IEEJ) are in the process and
research projects on “Establishment of Pan-Asia LNG
Market: Potential and Requirements (including hub
creation)” and “High Penetration of Renewable Energy in
India Techno-Economical Analysis of Balancing
Requirement by 2022” were undertaken.
4. A strategic partnership with Saudi Centre for International
Strategic Partnership (SCISP) and NITI Aayog has been
established. The partnership has explored twelve economic areas of cooperation in order to foster
cooperation. A tentative workshop in Riyadh is scheduled to be held to strengthen the collaboration by
meeting prospective companies, agencies and departments from both the countries.
5. Statement of Intent has been signed between NITI Aayog and Rockefeller Foundation, New York to
undertake work related to “Advancing improvements in the scale and quality of electricity access in India
to promote economic development”.

Energy Modelling
In-house modelling for better understanding of climate change mitigation policies
To develop in-houses capacity on integrated assessment modelling, NITI Aayog has taken steps to encourage
capacity building on developing such models in-house. NITI Aayog has set up an energy model MESSAGEix
for India. The basic model set up by NITI Aayog finds that solar penetration in India is highly cost sensitive. Thus
the trend of solar costs in India will ensure a higher share of renewable penetration in the power system. The
tool has full-fledged integrated model covering multiple nexus.

India Energy Security Scenario-2047

NITI Aayog has undertaken updation of India Energy Security Scenario-2047 and the base year of model has been
changed to 2017. The updation exercise is under process and the various ministries and departments have been
consulted for this exercise. NITI Aayog is under process to launch the revised version of tool very soon.

State Energy Calculator 2050

NITI Aayog in consultation with British High Commission has developed State Energy Calculators for the state
of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Assam and Karnataka. The State Energy Calculator for the state of Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka have been launched by their respective Chief Ministers.

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 Andhra Pradesh State Energy Calculator (APSEC, 2050) Karnataka State Energy Calculator 2050
On 21st November, 2017, Hon’ble Chief Minister of On 9th August, 2018, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka
Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu launched the Launched State Energy Calculator.
Andhra Pradesh State Energy Calculator.

Working Groups on Energy Demand and Supply & Energy Efficiency

To specify employment, income opportunities and growth targets for India in the context of India’s
Development Agenda @ 75 year, NITI Aayog has constituted a Working Group on Energy Demand and supply
and on Energy Efficiency in India by 2022 to assess the current status of Energy Demand through different
energy resources, likely demand position and to suggest possible energy efficiency measures by 2022. The
Working Group was also mandated to identify the various constraints pertaining to energy efficiency and in
demand and supply sector. The report of the WG was finalised.

Developing State Energy Index

Energy Vertical has initiated the development of the State Energy Index, to compare the energy accessibility,
affordability and sustainability across all Indian states and UTs. The index comprises of 20 indicators under four broad
categories - “access, affordability & reliability”, “clean initiatives”, “energy & efficiency” and “DISCOM’s viability &
competition”. It will provide the states and concerned central ministries/departments a ready reckoner of useful
information which in turn would empower them to formulate and implement suitable strategies. In order to enhance
the reach and capacity building, the World Bank has been roped in to provide the technical assistance and bring out
the rank-based analytical report. All the stakeholders have been consulted to provide their comments on the
preliminary set of indicators and accordingly requisite changes have been made.

Other Activities
i. Committee to analyse and suggest mechanism to provide agriculture subsidy on area basis through
Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) by eliminating input based subsidies like power, fertilizer and other inputs was
constituted under Chairmanship of Dr. Ramesh Chand, Member (Agriculture), NITI, under the direction of
Prime Minister Office. The report of the committee is under finalization.
ii. The work related to Energy Sector Schemes (for Output-Outcome Budget 2018-19) monitoring in
collaboration with DEMO team. The key parameters for monitoring have been developed by Energy
Vertical.
iii. The Energy Vertical coordinates with Energy Ministries for updation of NITI Aayog Dashboard on Energy
Sector (Coal, Petroleum, Power and Renewable) for review by Hon’ble Prime Minister on quarterly basis.
iv. Vertical was represented in various committees: (i) optimal energy mix in power generation on medium and
long term basis constituted by Ministry of Power/ Central Electricity Authority; (ii) to formulate long term
strategy for giving concessional power for value addition of new materials constituted by Ministry of Power/
Central Electricity Authority; (iii) Committee on Transmission (NCT) constituted by Ministry of Power for
encouraging competition in development of transmission projects.

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 v. Provided various energy sector related proposals and feedback to respective ministries on the proposals
of Standing Finance Commission (SFC), Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC), Detailed Project Report
(DPRs), Public Investments Board (PIB), Cabinet Notes, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
Notes, Empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS), Committee of Secretaries (CoS) notes, etc.
vi. Vertical was represented by in various committees and provided inputs/comments for designing long term
policy and programs, estimating demands, etc. pertaining to Petroleum & Natural Gas, power, Coal and
Renewable Energy Sectors. Such groups include Standing Scientific Research Committee (SSRC),
Inter-Ministerial Group on allotment of Coal blocks, Standing Linkage Committee (Long-term) for Coal
Supply to Power Stations, Cement Plant, etc.

10. MANAGING URBANIZATION

Managing Urbanization Vertical in NITI Aayog focuses on the subject relating to Urbanisation’, including housing and
real estate, and works in close association with Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The Vertical collaborates with
various departments of Centre/State Governments, urban local bodies (ULBs), knowledge bodies/institutions, think
tanks, experts, policy makers in planning, coordinating, formulating, processing, appraisal, analysis and monitoring
of various urban sector schemes, programmes and projects along with designing suitable policy and pragmatic
intervention based on real time data for strengthening India’s urban transformation.

The major activities/works carried out during the year 2018-19 are specified as under:

Memorandum of Understanding between NITI Aayog and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE)
NITI Aayog, Government of India has entered into a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Singapore
Cooperation Enterprise, (SCE), an agency of the Government of the Republic of Singapore for taking up the
second phase of Capacity Building Programme in the field of Urban Planning and Development. The MoU was
signed and exchanged between the two countries in presence of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India during his
visit to the Republic of Singapore in the month of May-June 2018. This MOU between NITI Aayog and SCE
will provide technical assistance for the government agencies, particularly, in the States and urban local bodies
(ULBs) and facilitate them to readily tap into the expertise of Singapore agencies in areas of urban
development and management through consultations and advisory services in planning and structuring
projects. This will facilitate the urban rejuvenation mission.

Capacity Building of Urban Local Bodies (ULBs)

NITI Aayog under its MoU with Singapore Cooperation Enterprise will launch a capacity building programme
on “Urban Management Programme” focussing on water recycling and reuse on 26th November, 2018 with
the objective of building capacities of ULBs, parastatal bodies and State government officials. The programme
will be covering eight states which have been selected through Challenge Method, namely, Karnataka,
Meghalaya, Punjab, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Background Notes/Appraisal/Examination of SFC/EFC/ EAP /Metro Rail & other Project Proposals
i. Preparation of background note on Rainwater Harvesting in Metropolitan Cities for examination of
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Urban Development.
ii. Agra, Kanpur and Delhi Metro (phase IV) Metro Rail Project- PIB Proposal of Government of Uttar Pradesh
was examined and the comments were sent.
iii. Chennai Metro Rail Project Phase-II –Availing of new ODA loan assistance from Asia Development Bank
(ADB) for Corridor 4 of Phase II – Forwarding of revised Preliminary Project Report (PPR - the proposal was
examined and comments furnished to DEA, Ministry of finance on 23.07.2017

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 iv. Proposal of National Capital Region Transport Corporation- Limited (NCRTC) for obtaining loan from
multilateral agencies for implementation of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridors in the NCR
region –comments sent to DEA on 11.07.2018.
v. The Draft SFC Memorandum regarding construction of GPRA at Naya Raipur, Chhattisgarh - comments
sent to Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs .
vi. Preliminary Project Report Proposal (PPRP) for Punjab Urban Infrastructure Investment Programme for
implementing Flagship scheme of GOI through ADB funding has been examined and comments sent to
DEA, Ministry of Finance.
vii. Project Proposal seeking World Bank assistance for ‘Tamil Nadu Housing and Habitat development for
urban Poor’ has been examined and the comments were sent to DEA on 27.07.2018
viii. Govt. of Punjab’s proposal for 24x7 surface water supply for Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala cities
through external assistance. The comments were sent to DEA (MoF), GoI and PMIDC, Punjab on
dated 7th June 2018
ix. Draft PIB memorandum regarding Development of CPWD land at Ghitorni, New Delhi jointly by CPWD and
NBCC and the comments were furnished.
x. The “Note for the Cabinet” was prepared and submitted to Cabinet Secretariat seeking the ‘ex-post-facto’
approval of Cabinet for taking forward (renewing) the second phase of Capacity Building Programme with
Cooperation between NITI Aayog and Singapore Cooperation Enterprise (SCE).
xi. EAP project proposal of Govt. of Assam – “Assam Municipal Development at Project (AMDP)” to be
funded by World Bank. The comments/views pertaining to Managing Urbanization Vertical are sent to
States division in NITI AAYOG on 24.05.2018
xii. Government of Manipur's Externally Aided Project -EAP Proposals 1) Integrated Water Supply Project for
Imphal Area Phase III" and 2) Providing Drinking Water Supply to other towns (28 nos.) under JICA.
Comments sent to State-NE division in NITI Aayog during 15th May, 2018
xiii. Revised PPR of Externally Aided Project named "Infrastructure Development of 7 (Seven) District
headquarters" in Tripura with ADB funding. Comments sent to State-NE division in NITI Aayog during 11th
October, 2018

11. INDUSTRY
The Industry Vertical deals with issues relating to the manufacturing sector. The main activities of the Industry
vertical during the current year has been in the following areas:
1. Make in India
2. International Cooperation
3. Conferences, events and important meetings
4. Representation of NITI Aayog in various Committees and Development Councils

1. Make in India
Industry Vertical was involved in preparation of policy papers and recommendations in the following areas:

National Strategy on Artificial Intelligence:

Recognising AI’s potential to transform economies and the need for India to strategise its approach, Hon’ble

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Finance Minister, in his budget speech for 2018 – 2019, mandated NITI Aayog to establish the National
Program on AI, with a view to guiding the research and development in new and emerging technologies.
In pursuance of the above, NITI Aayog has adopted a three-pronged approach – undertaking exploratory
proof-of-concept AI projects in various areas, crafting a national strategy for building a vibrant AI ecosystem in
India and collaborating with various experts and stakeholders. Since the start of this year, NITI Aayog has
partnered with several leading AI technology players to implement AI projects in critical areas such as
agriculture and health.
NITI Aayog after having round of consultations released a discussion paper on National Strategy on Artificial
Intelligence on its website on 4th June 2018.
The Strategy is termed #AIForAll as it is focused on leveraging AI for inclusive growth in line with the
Government policy of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas. Role of the Government has been clearly delineated to
develop the research ecosystem, promote adoption and address skilling challenges. The strategy also flags
important issues like ethics, bias and privacy issues relating to AI and envisions Government promoting
research in technology to address these concerns. The focus is on sectors like agriculture, health and
education where public investment and lead would be necessary.

National Maritime Policy

India is the sixteenth largest maritime country in the world with 14,500 kms of inland waterways, its 18%
population residing in the 77 coastal districts of 9 states and 4 Union Territories (UTs), 1300 islands. The
prevailing ground situation is that the approach to maritime affairs is sectoral. This has resulted in the
suboptimal management of the country’s marine resources, its maritime industry, its maritime security, and the
emerging ‘Blue Economy’. NITI Aayog has constituted a drafting committee under the Chairmanship of Admiral
R K Dhowan (Retd) to prepare a National Maritime Policy. The policy would be the instrument to integrate and
coordinate multifarious activities in the maritime sector.

Material Recycling Policy

India ranks poorly in material recycling vis a vis global benchmarks. Enhancing material recycling rates will help
India decouple its growth story from dependence upon primary resource / material consumption whilst
simultaneously adding value to the economy and protecting the environment.
NITI Aayog initiated detailed consultation with industry-both formal and informal, associations and technology
institutes, NGOs etc. in material recycling sector to appreciate the diverse issues comprehensively. The broad
objective of these interactions was to prepare a National Material Recycling Policy through wider consultations
with stakeholders. Towards this end, one International Conference on Sustainable Growth through Material
Recycling: Policy Prescriptions was held on 6 August, 2018 which attracted more than 400 delegates and
forty five speakers who shared global best practices. In addition three sectoral National Conferences were held
with the Industry association on various specific issues related to material recycling in India.
A draft policy laying out a clear vision, identifying specific missions and setting quantitative and qualitative
objectives to be realized by 2022 is under deliberation. The draft policy provides a roadmap on how India will
collect, segregate, sort and process End-of-Life (EOL) products, scraps and waste by putting in place the
most appropriate governance structure, technologies and approaches to reduce waste and maximise
recovery of materials for reuse.

Requirements for Operation of Civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems

NITI Aayog has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Civil Aviation for the
promulgation of the Civil Aviation Requirements Circular. The Circular, which was stalled for some time, will now
be effective from 01 December 2018.

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 Working Group on Promoting Bicycles in India
There are immense possibilities to promote the manufacturing and use of bicycles in the country. This would
not only promote healthy lifestyle but more importantly would contribute to the economic development in
numerous ways. The household cycle ownership has been increasing at a very slow rate of less than 3% per
year over the last 10 years. In this background, NITI Aayog has set up a Working Group to examine potential,
challenges and roadblocks in promoting Bicycles; and to recommend measures to address them. The report
of the working group is under finalization.

2. International Cooperation
The Industry vertical facilitated a number of international dialogues to collaborate with the international
community of experts, practitioners and other partners to foster an environment of knowledge and innovation.
Some interactions also lead to signing of Statements of Intent (SoIs) or Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
which put in place frameworks for further engagements with stakeholders to test innovative technologies or
proof of concepts in high impact areas.
• Statement of Intent (SOI) between NITI Aayog and the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy (BEIS), U K.
• Signing of MoU between India and Russia
• Statements of Intent (SOIs) signed by NITI Aayog
1. SoI with NASSCOM
2. NITI-IBM SoI
3. SoI with Oracle for blockchain in Pharma
4. SoI between NITI Aayog and Google
5. Toolkit for NLP in Indic Languages
6. GNFC SoI on Blockchain
7. UK Healthcare SoI
8. SoI with Nvidia
9. SoI with Perlin
10. SoI with SatSure Analytics India Pvt. Ltd
11. Development of Cancer BioBank project in collaboration with Tata Memorial Hospital, IIT
Bombay and IISc.
12. Govt of Maharashtra on Frontier Technologies
13. Model International Center for Transformative Artificial Intelligence (ICTAI) in collaboration with
Intel and TIFR
14. Natural Language Processing project in collaboration with Dr. Pushpak Bhattacharyya (IIT-Pat-
na) and International Innovation Corps (University of Chicago)

[Details of SoI given in Section E: Promoting Innovation]

3. Conferences, events and important meetings

Following conferences, events and important meetings were organized by Industry Vertical in NITI Aayog:
• NITI Aayog launched MoveHack, a global mobility hackathon to crowd source solutions aimed at the
future of mobility in India. MoveHack was focused on 10 themes. The hackathon was organized in
partnership with PwC as Knowledge Partner and NASSCOM as the Strategic Partner. MoveHack
aimed to bring about innovative, dynamic and scalable solutions to problems pertaining to mobility.
The top 30 teams shortlisted form the online submissions were mentored by experts. The top 30
teams participate in the final round held in New Delhi on 5 and 6 September, 2018. The evaluations

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 was done by jury comprising of subject matter experts, venture capitalists, business leaders and
successful entrepreneurs. The winners were announced during the Move Summit 2018, which was
also organized by NITI Aayog on 7 and 8 September 2018 in New Delhi.
• An International Conference on Sustainable Growth through Material Recycling: Policy Prescriptions
was held on 6 August, 2018. Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways & Ganga Rejuvenation,
Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, CEO, NITI Aayog and renowned experts from all over the world in material
recycling took part in the deliberations at the conference. The conference structured around 5
technical sessions on “Circular Economy in Material Recycling”, “Infrastructural Issues in Recycling
Industry”, “Standardization and certification in Recycling Industry”, “Environmental Benefits of Material
Recycling”, “Financial and Taxation issues in Recycling Industry”, “Financial and Taxation issues in
Recycling Industry”. The conference attracted more than 400 delegates and forty five speakers who
shared global best practices.
• NITI Aayog-ORF AI for All 2018 Conference: A conference AI for All in association with Observer
Research Foundation (ORF) was organized on November 15-16, 2018 in Mumbai. The event was
co-chaired by CEO, NITI Aayog; President, ORF; Adviser, NITI Aayog and Professor Wendell Wallach,
consultant, ethicist and scholar at Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics. The themes
around which deliberations took place included exploring the impact of AI on geopolitics, skilling and
training, accountability, data infrastructure and the military.

4. Representation of NITI Aayog in various Committees and Development Councils

The Industry Vertical represents NITI Aayog in the following Committees and Development Councils:
• Review Committee on Public Procurement Policy constituted by MSME
• Steering Committee of MSE- Cluster Development Programme (CDP)
• Project Appraisal and Monitoring Committee (PAMC) of North East Region (NER) Textile Promotion
Scheme by Ministry of Textiles
• Project Scrutiny Committee for Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP)
• Project Scrutiny Committee for Integrated Textile Processing Development Scheme (IPDS)
• Inter-Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC) on Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS)
• Empowered Committee constituted under Indian Leather Development Programme constituted by
Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion
• Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on MOU constituted by Department of Public Enterprises
• Apex Committee constituted for scheme on ‘Enhancement of Competitiveness in the ‘Indian Capital
Goods Sector’ by Department of Heavy Industry
• Project Approval and Monitoring Committee (PAMC) for Mega Clusters for Handloom and Handicraft
Sector under chairmanship of Secretary (Textiles)
• Development Council for Automobiles and Allied industries (DCAAI) under the chairmanship of
Secretary, Department of Heavy Industry
• Development Council for Machine Tools Industry
• Development Council for Textile Machinery Industry

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 Following Committees, which have CEO level participation of NITI Aayog, are serviced by the Industry Vertical:
• High Power Committee (HPC) on MOUs with CPSEs
• Apex Committee of Secretaries for recommendations on conferment/divestment of Navratna status
to CPSE.
• Board of Trustees of National Industrial Corridor Development Authority (NICDA).

12. INFRASTRUCTURE CONNECTIVITY

The Infrastructure Connectivity vertical at NITI Aayog is mandated to provide an integrated and holistic
approach to the transport sector by promoting and facilitating efficient, sustainable, environment friendly and a
balanced multi-modal transportation system. The vertical is actively contributing towards the development of
a roadmap for India’s mobility. This year the vertical has actively undertaken activities listed below.

Global Mobility Summit 2018

The Infrastructure Connectivity vertical organized MOVE: Global Mobility Summit, which was inaugurated by
the Hon’ble Prime Minister. The summit witnessed the participation of top global CEOs and brought together
various stakeholders to ideate upon the development of India’s roadmap for Mobility. The summit set the base
for a transport system which is safe; clean, shared and connected, affordable, accessible and inclusive.
The vertical also contributed to the preparation of reports on
• Transforming India’s Mobility: A Perspective
• Zero Emission Vehicles: Towards a Policy Framework
• Goods Transport and Logistics
• Data Driven Mobility
• Enabling Shared Mobility in India
These reports were presented to the Hon’ble Prime Minister at the inauguration of MOVE Summit.

Mobility Policy and Electric Vehicles

The vertical is working towards all-round improvements to mobility across the transportation and infrastructure
sectors. This entails policy measures which are aimed at reduction of logistics cost, promoting urban mobility,
facilitating intermodal shift and encouraging new and cutting edge technologies in Electric Vehicles besides
others. The vertical regularly conducts meetings with various stakeholders and Ministries and encourages the
private sector and start-ups to present their ideas which can be scaled up.

Mumbai-Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail (MAHSR) Corridor Project

NITI Aayog hosted the Eight Joint Committee Meeting (JCM) on High Speed Railways of MAHSR Corridor
Project on 17th September 2018, in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog whereas Dr. Hiroto Izumi, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Japan led the
Japanese delegation. Make in India, Loan Agreements and Contractual and Technical issues were discussed
in addition to a review of the progress made. Discussions were also held regarding training programs.

Indo-Japan Policy Dialogue on Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs)

NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Trade, Economy and Industry (METI) had signed an MoU to establish a dialogue on
Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs). The second meeting between the two sides was held on 6th September 2018.
Some of the key agenda items discussed included the development of a ZEV Ecosystem, Measures for ZEV
Promotion, Battery Technology, Technology Transfer and Policy Measures and Research and Development.

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Infrastructure Development of Airports
The Infrastructure Connectivity vertical monitors the development of infrastructure undertaken in Aiports by the
Airports Authority of India (AAI) and prepares quarterly progress reports. Accordingly, the quarterly progress
report of infrastructure developments in Aiports was prepared and submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Port Ecosystem Efficiency

The Infrastructure Connectivity Vertical provides regular inputs to improve the Port Ecosystem Efficiency. This
follows an earlier meeting which was chaired by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NITI Aayog and was
attended by officials from Ministry of Ports and Shipping, Custom and Central Excise, Ministry of Commerce,
Ministry of Railways, and industry players. Various parameters such as target times for imports and export,
customs, railways and CISF were discussed and aggressive targets were set.

Appraisal of Investment Proposals

During the year, Investment proposals were received from the Ministry of Railway, Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways, Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Civil Aviation. The vertical examined these proposals in
association with the Project Appraisal and Management Division (PAMD), NITI Aayog. The number of such
proposals examined have been summarized in the table below.

Sector SFC EFC PIB/EBR

Road 2 14 1
Railways 0 0 8
Shipping 2 2 0
Civil Aviation 2 0 3

Number of EFC, SFC, EBR and PIB notes examined by the Infrastructure Connectivity vertical for various sectors, during the year 2017 - 18

0
Roads Railways Ports Civil Aviation
Roads Railways Ports Civil Aviation

Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Working Group Meeting

Three meetings of the working group of ITS were held on 31 July, 2018. This follows the earlier signing of SoI between
NITI Aayog and Geneva based IRF in September 2017. The objective of the SoI is mutual cooperation and the
creation of a national platform involving all relevant stakeholders for the purpose of developing a National ITS Policy
covering traffic management, parking management, electronic enforcement of traffic rules and regulations, fleet
management and monitoring as well as innovation and education in the field of ITS.
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Integration of National Resources for Army
A meeting was held on 2 May, 2018 under the chairmanship of Additional Secretary on the integration of
available national resources and their subsequent mobilization. This meeting was held with the Indian Army.

Progress Meeting of PMGSY

The progress of the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was reviewed in a meeting chaired by
Dr. V. K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog on 10 May, 2018. The Secretary, Rural Development, NITI Aayog
delivered a presentation on the progress made.

Monitoring Committee for Railway Safety Fund

The second meeting of the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) was held on 11 October, 2018. The Rashtriya
Rail Sanraksha Kosh is an independent Monitoring Committee’ which has been created under the chairmanship
of CEO, NITI Aayog. Other members of the committee are Additional Member Planning, Railway Board; Joint
Secretary, PFC-II, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance. The Adviser (Infrastructure – Connectivity) is
the Convenor of this committee. The first meeting of the committee was held on 23 November 2017.

Monitoring Progress of Metro Projects

The vertical also monitors the progress of Metro Projects in line with the directions of the PMO. Dr. V.K.
Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog reviewed Make in India initiative in Metro Projects, standardization,
indigenization of technology and Metro Policy 2017. The Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs,
CEO, NITI Aayog, Adviser, Transport, NITI Aayog and Managing Directors of metro rail companies participated
in the meeting to discuss the various issues hindering the growth of metro projects.

Construction Industry Development Council (CIDC)

The CIDC is a partnership between Infrastructure Connectivity Vertical, NITI Aayog and the Construction
Industry which takes up activities and issues related to the development of the Construction Sector in India.
The CIDC is mandated to provide impetus to advise the government on policy formulation and facilitate skills
development for the workers of the industry in addition to various other tasks.

Setting up of EV Charging Stations at NITI Aayog

Charging points for Electric Vehicles have been installed at NITI Aayog by various providers including ABB and
ChargePoint. These charging points will be used to charge electric vehicles and will encourage employees to
shift to an electric vehicle fleet. The charging points were inaugurated last year and over ten such charging
points have been installed in the premises since.
State Co-operation (State of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh)
The Infrastructure Connectivity vertical is responsible for looking after the states of Jammu and Kashmir and
Himachal Pradesh. The activities undertaken in this regard during 2018-19 are mentioned as under:
• A meeting was organised on 14 September 2018 under the Chairmanship of Hon’ble Vice Chairman
to review the Udaan Scheme, a special industry initiative for the state of Jammu and Kashmir aimed
at addressing the needs of the youth in the state. The meeting was attended by various government
and non-government stakeholders and beneficiaries. A few revisions in the overall framework of the
scheme were suggested so as to streamline the operational aspects.
• The vertical has assigned a review study of the Udaan scheme in the state of Jammu and Kashmir to
the Bureau of Research on Industry and Economic Fundamental Pvt. Ltd (BRIEF) by NITI Aayog under
Research Scheme of NITI Aayog 2015 (RSNA-2015).
• The Government of Himachal Pradesh apprised the vertical of various issues that were pending with
central Ministries. NITI Aayog has sought clarification on those issues from the concerned Ministries

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 so that the same may be resolved in a meeting between the Hon’ble Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and
the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh.
• The vertical is engaged in the preparation of a Concept Paper which will focus on employment
generation in Jammu and Kashmir as well as ways in which its bond with the rest of the country may
be strengthened.

13. FINANCIAL RESOURCES

The Financial Resources Division of NITI Aayog assesses the financial health of the States, including
assessment of transfers to the States from Centre, social sector expenditure by State and their debt position.
The issues relating to finance commission, funding requests for special projects and intergovernmental
transfers are also handled by this vertical. As a policy think tank of the Government, this vertical is committed
towards providing new dimensions and pushing for reforms in the fiscal state of the country. With this role, the
major activities and studies undertaken by the Division during 2018-19 are as follows:

Comprehensive State Profiles

The vertical has prepared a comprehensive profile of States’ education, health and finances with effective
representation in easy to understand graphs and charts. These graphs and charts compare States across
various outcome parameters with not only the latest data but also its performance trajectory.

Assessment of Study commissioned by NITI on State Finances of Kerala, Punjab and

West Bengal
As an initiative to provide structured support to the States and foster their finances recognising the fact that
stronger States are important to make a strong nation a study was commissioned for three States, namely
Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal whose financial indicators, were found to be worrisome. The study aimed to
provide necessary solution to optimally utilize each of their available fiscal space and to better manage their
public finance.
The study examined the extent and cause(s) of fiscal stress of these States and suggested policy implications
to reduce mounting revenue and fiscal deficit of each of these States. The reports have been finalized and are
available on NITI Aayog website.

New Initiatives
Rewarding States for performance on key outcomes of human development like health, education, etc. by
linking certain proportion of fund allocation under schemes to performance by the States’ in these outcomes.
A simulation exercise was conducted by tweaking the existing formula to allocate funds to States under
National Health Mission to include change in performance and existing level of performance of States’ in health
sector as measured by the NITI Health Performance Index launched in January 2018. The idea is a new
perspective in the policy direction with the intention to promote competition both within and among states and
drive performance in specifically the social sectors.

Allocation to States
The Union Government is committed to assist states to meet the “spill over liabilities” of their area specific
schemes and projects for which budget provision has not been made after the implementation of Fourteenth
Finance Commission recommendations and also to provide for need-based assistance to the states on
account of varying socio-economic-geographical factors. In order to honour this commitment, on the basis of
NITI’s recommendation, Rs.685 crore has already been released by Ministry of Finance till the end of
September 2018 to States from ‘Special Assistance’ provided under Demand No 40 of Union Expenditure
Budget.

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 14. NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
The Environment and Forest Division of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) Vertical is involved in
formulation of policies and development of strategies for sustainable management of forests; protection of
wildlife and their habitats; and maintenance of a clean, green and healthy environment. The Division
coordinates activities with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC). During the
year 2018-19, the following major activities were undertaken by the Division:-
Cleaner Air Better Life Initiative:
Formulation of appropriate strategies for maintaining a clean, green and healthy environment in the country has
been accorded high priority in NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog has been working closely with the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII) and other stakeholders for controlling air pollution. On the World Environment Day, 5th
June, 2017, NITI Aayog and CII organized the first meeting of their joint initiative “Cleaner Air Better Life” with
an objective to address the issue of air pollution in the country with active participation of the Government
agencies, the industries and other stakeholders. Subsequently, four Task Forces were constituted in NITI
Aayog with experts as members to recommend suitable interventions for Clean Fuel, Clean Transport, Clean
Industries and Biomass Management. Reports on Clean Fuel, Clean Transport and Biomass Management
have been finalized and the reports are now in public domain and available on NITI Aayog website. Report on
Clean Industries is expected to be finalized soon.

Appraisal of Notes for the Cabinet

The proposal sent by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for consideration
of the Cabinet were examined in the Division and observations were sent to the Ministry. The proposals were
on the following subjects:-
• Institution of an International Award on Climate Change and Sustainable Living.
• Establishment of National Institute for Climate Change Studies & Action (NICCSA) envisaged for
coordination of scientific and policy research, Capacity building and to support the Ministry on climate
change issues.
• Setting up of a Regulator/Authority under section 3(3) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
• Adoption of a Strategy for increasing the Tree Cover outside Forests under a Tripartite Agreement
between the Land Owning Entity (LOE), the concerned State/ UT Government and the Public or
Private Organization (Executive Agency) for taking up tree plantation on various Non-Forest
Government Lands.
• Conferment of Institute of National Importance (INI) status to Wildlife Institute of India through an Act of
Parliament.
• ‘In-principle approval’ to the proposal for taking up the work of conservation and rejuvenation of rivers
in an integrated manner in ten selected polluted river stretches in the country under the National River
Conservation Plan.
• Revised Guidelines for Public Participation in Afforestation of Degraded Forests.

Appraisal of Memorandums for Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC)/ Standing Finance

Committee (SFC)
The Draft Memorandum for Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) for Pollution Abatement scheme for the year
2018-19 and 2019-20 proposed by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was
examined and observations were sent to the Ministry.
Draft Memorandum for the Standing Finance Committee (SFC) on the proposal, “Pollution abatement of rivers
Devika and Tawi at Udhampur (Jammu & Kashmir) under National River Conservation Plan” proposed by
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) was examined and observations were sent
to the Ministry.

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15 SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
Science and Technology are important drivers of economic growth and development in the contemporary
world. It helps the country to achieve sustained and rapid growth. Science and Technology Vertical of NITI
Aayog plays a catalytic role in promoting Science & Technology in the country in association with the central
scientific departments/agencies. It is the nodal Vertical for examination and appraisal of the S&T programmes
of the following major agencies/Departments, viz.
• Department of Science and Technology (DST)
• Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
• Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) including the Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR)
• Department of Space (DOS)
• Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
• Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
• Department of Posts (DoP)
During year 2018-19, S&T vertical has taken the lead in some of the PMO driven agendas such as Methanol
Economy, Make in India in Body Armour, Preferential Market Access (PMA) to promote procurement of
domestically produced goods and services and manufacturing in India; breaking silos between academia and
national R&D labs; ranking and ratings of public funded national R&D labs; and effective commercialization of
technologies.

Following progress has been made on these initiatives during 2018-19:

Make in India Body Armour

Roadmap for “Make in India” Body Armour was prepared in consultation with all the stakeholders and a
presentation made to the PMO, in the meeting chaired by Principal Secretary to PM. Based on the
recommendation of the PMO, an empowered committee under chairmanship of Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member
NITI Aayog was constituted to oversee the implementation of the roadmap. The empowered committee met
two times during the year and reviewed the status of implementation of these recommendations. With NITI
Aayog’s interventions, initiatives to set up of raw material plant for body armour in the country have already
been taken. White paper on Indian standards for the Body Armour has been prepared; R&D work on Carbon
Nano Tube at NPL, NAL, DRDO and industry partners has been initiated; assessment has been done on the
total requirement of Body Armour by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the next three years; and simplified
and fast track procurement process of body armour and testing facilities at TBRL to private sector have also
been opened.

Methanol Economy
The roadmap on Methanol Economy was submitted to the PMO and presented to the Cabinet Secretary. As
per the recommendations of the meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary, an apex committee has been formed
under the chairmanship of Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog to oversee the implementation of Methanol
Economy in the Country.

Task Forces constituted

(1) Task force on Production of Methanol/DME using High Ash Coal,
(2) Taskforce on Utilisation of Methanol/DME,
(3) Task Force on Production of Methanol using Biomass/Municipal Solid Waste/Sources other than Coal

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 (4) Task Force for Conversion/design of Methanol/DME based Engines, and
(5) Task Force on Dissemination of Information and Creating Awareness about Methanol/DME

Activities of all five Task Forces is being monitored by NITI Aayog. Below is a status report.
• R&D work on developing indigenous technology for production of methanol using high ash coal is in
full swing. By Mid-2019, 1 tpd pilot plant will be demonstrable. After successful demonstration of 1
tpd, the Task Force will start work towards scaling up to 100 tpd and to commercial plant of 1500 tpd.
• Modality of blending of methanol in gasoline has been worked out. Two-wheelers, three-wheelers and
gensets run on methanol have been demonstrated.
• Work on methanol based locomotive engines for railways and marine applications is in progress.
• Optimization studies with different co-solvents & additives to finalize a stable M-15 blend have been
completed. BIS will shortly notify the BIS standard for M15 Blending.
• Studies on material compatibility, performance and durability test protocols for validation of engines /
vehicles to run on methanol is being carried out.
• In order to create awareness among the people about the methanol/DME, a website or dedicated
portal on methanol economy is being created and FAQs on methanol prepared.
• R&D work on conversion of MSW to methane to methanol via Syngas Route, Development of Novel
Technology for Direct Oxidation of Methane to Methanol, Development of Technology for Production
of Methanol from CO2 and Inexpensive H2 is in progress.
• Production of Methanol using Biomass will be demonstrated by end of March, 2019.
• With the efforts of NITI Aayog, Methanol Cooking stoves have been demonstrated by Assam
Government.
• Dialogues for G to G engagement with Israel is going on for setting of Methanol plant in Israel for
immediate requirement of methanol in the country.

[For detailed note on Methanol Economy see Section F – Think Tank Activities]

Ranking and ratings of public funded national R&D labs

Dr VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog chaired meetings with scientific ministries/ departments and discussed
various modalities for developing framework for ranking and rating of national laboratories/institutions. A Task
Force under the chairmanship of Prof. Goverdhan Mehta Chairman, National Accreditation Board of Education
& Training, Quality Council of India (QCI) has been constituted. The Task Force deliberated in detail, the
possible parameters for ranking and rating of labs and designed a draft framework. The framework for
rating/ranking of public funded national R&D labs has been finalised and a formal report has been submitted
to the PMO.

Preferential Market Access (PMS) to indigenously developed products & technologies

Two meetings with the stakeholders were organised and deliberated in detail on the various issues related to
PMA. Based on the discussion, the recommendations of NITI Aayog on PMA to indigenously developed
products and technologies has been submitted to PMO.

Breaking silos between academia and national R&D labs & effective commercialization of
technologies
The vertical has been facilitating discussions on various issues such as breaking silos between academia and
national R&D labs; effective commercialization of technologies and came out with recommendations which
have been forwarded to all concerned S&T departments for implementation.

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16. STATES COORDINATION & DECENTRALIZED PLANNING
The States Coordination & Decentralised Planning vertical in the NITI Aayog is entrusted with the responsibility
to foster cooperative federalism through structured support and initiatives. The vertical provides inputs in
formulation of policies and providing institutional support to States, in terms of Development Support Services
to States (DSSS) for Development of Infrastructure, facilitates scaling up of GIS based models for planning,
management and monitoring of Government service delivery in all States / UTs and tracks the progress of
Union Territories (UTs) through dashboards. This vertical also facilitates the States and UTs for resolving their
pending issues with various Central Government Ministries.

The SC&DP vertical is also nodal for the following:

(i) Ministries:
• M/o Information and Broadcasting
• M/o Tourism
• M/o Mines
• M/o Culture
• M/o Panchayati Raj
• M/o Law and Justice
• M/o Earth Sciences
(ii) Administrative control of NILERD
(iii) Nodal vertical for the States of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and UTs

Some major activities undertaken by the vertical are as follows:

UT progress tracker
A Progress Tracker dashboard for Union Territories of India (UTs) has been developed to monitor and track the
monthly progress of various developmental schemes/ projects/ initiatives of the Government
(https://progresstracker.gov.in/user) and to meet the data gaps for real time policy interventions. NITI
Aayog/MHA undertake quarterly review of the progress of the implementation of the key schemes/projects
/initiatives under the National Development Agenda. This monitoring has impacted the delivery of services in
UTs significantly. As of now, the tracker monitors the progress of 42 developmental schemes/
projects/initiatives. NITI Aayog is now developing a Union Territory Development Index (UTDI) to rank the
performance of UTs on various developmental parameters and to promote a competitive spirit amongst the
UTs to expedite the process of development.

United Nations Sustainable Development Framework (UNSDF) 2018-2022:

UNSDF 2018-2022 is a five-year planning instrument that outlines an action-oriented UN response to key
national developmental priorities in India, integrating the Sustainable Development Goals. NITI Aayog is the
national counterpart for the UN in India for the operationalisation of the UNSDF.
A signature ceremony has been organized between NITI Aayog and the United Nations in India on 28
September 2018. The Framework document was signed by the CEO, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant and United
Nations Resident Coordinator in India Yuri Afanasiev. The agreement is a reflection of the commitment and
efforts made by India towards attaining the Sustainable Development Goals.

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 The First Joint Steering Committee meeting for the implementation of UNSDF (2018-22) was held under co-chairmanship of Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog and United Nations Resident Coordinator in India with the officials of MEA, DEA and Conveners of 7 UNSDF
Strategic Priority areas on 17th December 2018 at NITI Aayog.

Restructuring of the Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)

To leverage the pivotal role of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), the Expert Committee constituted under the
Chairmanship of former Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog had recommended restructuring of the Rashtriya Gram
Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA). Based on the recommendation of the Committee, RGSA became a Centrally
Sponsored Scheme under the administrative control of Ministry of Panchayati Raj from 2018-19 to 2021-22
to address the challenges faced by the States.

The scheme is geared to developing governance capabilities of Panchayati Raj Institutions to deliver on the
Sustainable Development Goals. Under the capacity building component of RGSA, training programmes for
over 88 lakh elected representatives and Panchayat functionaries were sanctioned during 2017-18.

New Guidelines have been issued to Ministry of Panchayati Raj for transparent and equitable allocation of
funds amongst the States who were deprived of the Central fund under the areas covered under Sixth
Schedule of the Constitution.

Some major activities undertaken by the vertical for Ministries of Information and Broadcasting, Tourism,
Culture, Panchayati Raj, Law and Justice and Earth Sciences are as follows:

(i) Information & Broadcasting

Draft Cabinet notes on:

• Closure of National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) Ltd. and Children’s Film Society of India
(CFSI) and Rationalization / Merger of Films Division (FD), National Films Archive of India (NFAI) and
Directorate of Film Festival (DFF)’ under the aegis of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
• Revised EFC proposal of Prasar Bharati (DD/AIR) for continuation of the scheme of Broadcasting
Infrastructure Network Development.

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 • EFC proposal for the scheme “Development Communication & Information Dissemination” for the year
2017-2020.

(ii) Tourism
• NITI Aayog issued specific comments on a proposal received from the Government of Himachal
Pradesh for Development of Tourism Infrastructure for Himachal Pradesh under ADB funding. The
project report was revised accordingly incorporating the recommendations of NITI Aayog. NITI Aayog
has supported the proposal.
• Under the aegis of Ministry of Tourism, a draft Cabinet Bill was prepared for upgradation of National
Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (NCHMCT) to an Institution of National
Importance (INI) to be named as National Institute of Hospitality Management (NIHM) by an Act of
Parliament with powers to award degrees, diploma and certificates in its field of competence in India.
• A Research Study has been commissioned to Development Oriented Operations Research and
Surveys (DOORS) on ‘Reviewing the visitor facilities at 50 of 116 ticketed monuments (including World
Heritage Sites) for suggesting the way forward for making them World Class Tourist Places’. Field work
has begun. Monuments in Assam and Tamil Nadu have been visited. Field work is in progress in Delhi,
Rajasthan and Haryana. Secondary information has been collected from the Archaeological Survey of
India.

(iii) Mines

NITI Aayog through the SC&DP Vertical also provides a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and
inter-departmental issues in order to leverage the road blocks in the mines sector. The key objectives of the
Vertical are to have effective consultation with the stake holders in order to ensure:
(a) Raw material security for all user industries
(b) Enhanced co- production of by-product metals - Technology Metals, Energy Critical Metals & Rare
Earth Elements
(c) Ensuring sustainability of the environment.

To achieve these objectives, Minerals Vertical focusses on strengthening of institutions, encouraging R&D and
technology development, creation of infrastructure, skill development, ensuring full and productive coverage
of survey and exploration, development of a database of mineral resources, environmental sustainability of
mining and suitable policy changes in line with the overall strategy. The vision is to encourage optimum mineral
exploitation, decrease the import of various minerals and to strengthen the supply chain by means of value
addition and make the sector more robust which will provide impetus to the “Make in India” programme of the
Government.

This Division examined various proposals meant for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs(CCEA),
Expenditure Finance Committee(EFC), Standing Finance Committee (SFC) from the concerned ministries and
supported the proposals with its constructive suggestions.

Some major specific activities undertaken by the division during the period under report are as follows:
a. A draft Memorandum of Understanding between Atomic Minerals Directorate, Government of the
Republic of India and Public Authority of Mining, Sultanate of Oman on “Co-operation in the field of
Exploration of Mineral Resources in the Territory of Sultanate of Oman” has been prepared and
submitted for approval to the Ministry of External Affairs.

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 b. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) Note seeking approval for implementation of umbrella
scheme “Atmosphere & Climate Research-Modelling Observing System & Services (ACROSS).
c. Cabinet Committee on National Mineral Policy, 2018.
d. Cabinet Note for amending the Section 21(5) of the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation)
1957.
e. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for issue of fresh equity though QIP route.
f. “Policy frame work on Utilization of Fly ash and Slag” focusing on the methodologies to explore and
pursue R&D and to promote / enhance utilization of Steel (LD & EAF) slag in areas like road making,
along with optimum utilization of fly ash.
g. A Workshop / Meeting on “District Mineral Fund” assessing the quantum of work carried out by the
States and Union Territories was analysed by this division and necessary guidance has been issued
to the States & UT’s for utilizing the fund effectively in the mining districts.

[For more details on Mineral Sector Reforms see Section B - Policy & Programme Framework]

(iv) Culture

NITI Aayog along with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has come forward to prepare the context for
the comprehensive inter-ministerial approach towards ‘Cultivating vibrant, diplomatic, strategic and economic
relations across the world: understanding the centrality of promotion of cultural relations”. A coordination
committee has been constituted to facilitate interaction between the ministries / departments, create
convergence and focus on integrating India’s soft power into its external relations particularly harnessing and
focusing on its spiritual, cultural and philosophical dimensions. The first meeting of the Coordination
Committee was held under the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog on 29th November, 2018.

SFCs / EFCs / PIBs / DIB / ATR / Action Plans/ Special Plans / Miscellaneous matters dealt in the Division:
o SFC memorandum on Appraisal of New Scheme namely ‘Seva Bhoj Yojna’ under 14th Finance
Commission period have been responded.
o SFC memorandum for appraisal of ongoing ‘Scheme of Financial Assistance for Creation of Cultural
infrastructure’
o Examined the EAP proposal for consideration of possible funding under NDB for: Establishment of
Gyan Mandir - a world class library at Gangtok, East Sikkim

(v) Panchayati Raj and Law and Justice

Appraisal of Cabinet notes by the Vertical:

Draft Note for the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) seeking approval for implementation of the
CSS of “Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA)” for the period 1.04.2018 to 31.03.2022 at the total cost of
Rs.7255.50 (Central Share of Rs.4500.00 crore and State share Rs.2755.50 crore).
I. Draft Cabinet Note on National Policy on Official Statistics (NPOS) and comments have been
forwarded to DM&A Vertical.
II. Draft Note for the Cabinet on the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate
Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2018 for approval of (i) Introduction of the Commercial
Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Bill
2018; and (ii) Creation of posts at different levels in Department of Legal Affairs and appointment of

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 mediators and support staffs at mediation centres at Delhi and Other Union Territories.
III. Draft Note for the Cabinet on “Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendments) Bill, 2018”.
IV. Examined and furnished comments on the Draft Cabinet Note on the Specific Relief Act, 1963,
seeking approval for defining and amending the laws relating to certain kinds of Specific Relief granted
by Courts for ensuring individual civil rights.

SFCs / EFCs / PIBs / DIB / ATR / Action Plans/ Special Plans / Miscellaneous matters dealt by the Division:

Appraised a Standing Finance Committee (SFC) Memorandum of Ministry of Law & Justice for the requirement
of additional 1,30,830 voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVAPT) units projected by the Election Commission of
India
I. Participated with Ministry of Law & Justice for finalisation a manual/handbook for Skill Balance at
district/local level administration for implementation of CSSs as per recommendations made by group
of Secretaries on Governance, including information on “Infrastructure Facilities for Judiciary at district
level.”
II. Examined the DIB proposal received from Department of Legal Affairs regarding purchase of office space
for the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal at World Trade Centre, Nauroji Nagar from NBCC (India) Ltd.
III. Examined action plan for uploading Subordinate Legislation on India Code Portal (ICP) in compliance
with the Delhi High Court Order dated 22.09.2017. The views on action taken report were conveyed
to the Cabinet Secretariat.
IV. Provided suggestions/comments for meeting with Fifteenth Finance Commission with regard to the
Terms of Reference of the Fifteenth Finance Commission on issues relating to Panchayati Raj.

Meetings/ Workshops

The SC&DP vertical actively participated in the 18th Empowered Committee Meeting (ECM) on “eCourts
Mission Mode Project” held on June 14, 2018.

17. SOCIAL JUSTICE & EMPOWERMENT

The Social Justice and Empowerment (SJ&E) Vertical in the NITI Aayog is functioning as the nodal division for
the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment (Department of Social Justice & Empowerment & Department
of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities), Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Ministry of Minority Affairs. The major
responsibly of the SJE Vertical is to provide inputs in formulation and strengthening of policies and
programmes to safeguard and empower the interest of the socially, educationally and economically weaker
sections of the society.
The SJE Vertical is also responsible for formulating and implementing guidelines for scheduled castes
sub-plan and tribal sub-plan, making suggestions or modifications in the guidelines of grants under Article
275(l) and special central assistance to SCSP & TSP.
Some major specific activities undertaken by the division during 2018-19 are as follows:
(i) Report of the Sub-Group on Revamping of Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)and establishment of
National Institute for Tribal Research and Development:
SJE division and sub-group constituted to revamp TRIs had various consultations at State level and
Central level i.e. inter- ministerial level and finalised the report and submitted to the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs and PMO for further action.

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 (ii) New arrangement for implementation of Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub- Plan: SJE
Division, after wide consultations with States/UTs, Central Ministries / Departments, new guidelines for
allocation of funds, formulation and implementation of specific schemes and effective monitoring of
programs have been developed and circulated to Central Ministries / Departments and Ministry of
Finance for implementation.
(iii) National Survey on Manual Scavengers: Survey has been completed in all States except J&K (170
Districts). At national level so far total 38,785 persons have been identified including earlier surveys
(this (2018) survey 25015 and earlier (2013) survey 13770). Under the Self Employment Scheme for
Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers (SRMS), One Time Cash Assistance (OTCA) of Rs. 40,000 each
has been provided to 24,863 persons 955 MS have been provided capital subsidy. Under the skill
development component, 6361 MS have completed training programmes and 4306 are undergoing
training programme, as on 30th Sept. 2018. In addition following initiatives have also been undertaken
by the NSKFDC for the target groups:
a) Health Camps.
b) Training and awareness Camps.
c) Distribution of common safety aids.
d) Behavioural skill development training.
(iv) New guidelines on Implementing Budget Allocation for Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes (SCSP & TSP): NITI Aayog has revised the guidelines on account of merger of plan and non-plan
classification of expenditure, obligating 41 Central Ministries / Departments to allocate funds and
formulate and implement specific schemes for the welfare of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
(v) Enhanced allocation for welfare of SCs and STs in 2018-19: In view of merger of Plan and Non Plan
expenditure in 2017-18, NITI has ensured adequate allocation for SCs (SCSP) and STs (TSP).
“Allocation for the welfare of SCs” has increased from Rs. 52377.82 crore (BE) in 2017-18 to Rs.
56476.84 crore (BE) in 2018-19 i.e. an increase of 8.10%. Similarly, the total allocation for the welfare
of STs has increased from Rs. 31919.51 (BE) crore in 2017-18 to Rs. 39134.73 crore (BE) 2018-19
i.e. an increase of 22.10%. Number of Ministries /Departments allocating funds also increased from
during 2017-18. 26 Central Ministries and 29 Departments have earmarked funds for SCSP & TSP
respectively after intervention by NITI Aayog. 29 Central Ministries and 37 Departments have
earmarked funds for SCSP & TSP respectively during 2018-19
(vi) Review Meeting on implementation of SCSP & TSP: Two such review meetings were held one in
January 2018, under the Chairmanship of Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog and another under the
Chairmanship of Hon’ble Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog in August 2018, with 41 Central Ministries /
Departments to assess the performance and deliberate operational difficulties and finalise modalities
for effective utilisation of allocated funds and allocate obligated percentage of funds.

Another meeting was held on 16th November, 2018 with Secretary, Shri Ajay Narayan Jha, Department of
Expenditure and Shri Aravind Srivastava, Joint Secretary (Budget), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of
Finance under the Chairmanship of Shri Ratan P. Watal, Principal Adviser (Social Sector), NITI Aayog to
implement the New Arrangements suggested by NITI Aayog for implementation of SCSP & TSP.
The SJE Division actively participated in the following meetings / events and given valid suggestions /
comments / views:
• Price Fixation Committee of TRIFED for revision of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Minor
Forest Produces (MFPs),
• Standing Committee for Tribal Welfare and National Council for Tribal Welfare,
• Central Monitoring Committee for Monitoring the implementation of Prohibition of Employment as
Manual Scavengers and other Rehabilitation Act-2013,

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 • Technical Advisory Committee for Nai-Manzil scheme of Ministry of Minority Affairs,
• Selection committee for selection of Coaching Institutions for Grant of Central Assistance under
the scheme of Pre-Coaching for SC and OBC students,
• Project Approval Committee for sanction of Projects under Grant-in-Aid under Article 275(1),
• Research Advisory Committees (RAC) of Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, and
Ministry of Tribal Affairs in addition to the Project Approval Committee of Multi Sectoral
Development Programme / PMs 15 Point Programme of Ministry of Minority Affairs,
• Empower Committee Meeting of the Ministry of Minority Affairs: Adviser (SJE) is a Member in the
EC. Adviser or Officer nominated by Adviser participated the EC meetings and provided
comments and inputs on the proposals under Multi-sectoral Development Programme (MsDP) for
Minority Concentration Blocks (MCBs),
• Central Monitoring Committee for monitoring the implementation of the "Prohibition of Employment
as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013,
• Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs " Examination of SCSP & TSP,
• Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes for ‘Formulation and implementation of
Reservation Policy and Rationalisation of Creamy Layer in employment for OBCs in the posts and
services under Government of India and Union Territories and Welfare measures for them,”
• Meeting of National Council of Senior Citizens

Cabinet Notes dealt in the Division

• Draft Note for the Cabinet for Re-designation of one post of Member in National Commission for
Safai karamcharies (NCSK) as Vice- Chairman,
• Draft Cabinet note for amendment to the maintenance and welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens
Act. 2007,
• Draft Cabinet Note for Establishing of Dr. Ambedkar International Centre for Socio - Economic
Transformation (DAICSET) and International Centre for Buddhist Studies (Chaitya) in the Dr.
Ambedkar International Centre,
• Draft Cabinet Note on Continuation of the Schemes of (i) Pre-Matric Scholarship Scheme,
Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme and Merit-cum-means based Scholarship Scheme for the
students belonging to Minority Communities,
• Note for Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Restructuring of Multi Sectoral Development
Program (MSDP) for Minorities Concentration Blocks, Districts.
• The revised draft Cabinet Note for setting up of the National University for Divyangian in Kamrup
District, Assam was examined and supported.

SFCs / EFCs/PIBs dealt in the Division

• EFC Memorandum for Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, (PMAGY),
• EFC Memorandum for Equity Support to National Safai Karamcharies Finance and Development
Corporation (NSKFDC),
• EFC Memorandum for the scheme of Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution of India,
• EFC Memorandum for the scheme of “Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs)”,
• EFC Memorandum for modification and continuation of the Scheme "National Fellowship to
Scheduled Caste Students",
• Memorandum for Expenditure Finance Committee(EFC) on the proposal of Enhancement of the
Authorised Share Capital of the National Handicapped Finance and Development
Corporation(NHFDC),
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 • PIB/ EFC Proposal for Establishment of Centres of Disability Sports
• EFC Proposal for establishment of National Institute of Mental Health Rehabilitation (NIMHR) at
Bhopal (MP),
• SFC Proposal for Financial Assistance for Existing Deaf Colleges in Five Regions of the Country,
• SFC Memorandum for Scheme for free Coaching and Allied Scheme for the
Students/Candidates belonging to Minority Communities,
• SFC Memorandum for appraisal of scheme Support to Tribal Research Institute (TRIs),
• Draft Memorandum for the Standing Finance Committee for revision of Central Sector Scholarship
Scheme of Top Education for SC Students,
• Project Proposal on Value Chain Development of North Eastern Region Community Resource
Management Project (NERCOMP-IV) of NER/DoNER.
• SJE Division attended the SFC Meeting on Scheme for implementation of the National Action Plan
for Drug Demand Reduction held in November 2018. The scheme was supported with certain
suggestions which were accepted and scheme was approved.

State Matters
• A meeting with the Chief Minister of West Bengal was held in August 2018 and various issues
were deliberated,
• Odisha Vikas conclave was inaugurated by the Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog on 24th August 2018,
in which various themes were deliberated.

Parliament Matters
• Inputs were given to Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes on
implementation of Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan,
• Inputs were provided to Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance,
• Inputs were given to Parliamentary Committee on welfare of Other Backward Classes.

VIP&PMO Public grievances / References

SJE Division received over 25 PMO references and over 100 public grievances in the current year and
examined and disposed of taking appropriate action.

RTI Matters
The SJE Division, has received over 100 RTI applications and replied to all the applicants.

Internship Scheme
The SJE Division has provided an opportunity to about 30 interns during the current year and enabled them to
successfully write good quality reports on various themes assigned to the Interns.

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18. LAND & WATER RESOURCES
The Land & Water Resources vertical of the Aayog provides the directional and policy input in the water and
land sector of the country. The main objective is to facilitate water and land security to ensure adequate
availability of water for life, agriculture, economic development by 2022.
A brief on important works undertaken by the vertical during the year 2018-19 is given below:-

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) has been conceived by the Central Government with a vision
to ensure access to some means of protective irrigation for all agricultural farms in the country. The fourth
meeting of the Council of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) was held under the chairmanship
of CEO, NITI Aayog on 14.12.2018. In the meeting, the progress of various components of PMKSY was
reviewed and decisions were taken to expedite the implementation of various components so as to deliver the
objective of Har-Khet-Ko-Pani. Among the 99 prioritized projects under PMKSY- AIBP scheme, 31 Priority
projects have already been completed/ almost completed by June 2018.

Development of Hybrid Annuity PPP model

In order to accelerate the pace of micro irrigation development in the country, NITI Aayog-Water resource
division has assisted in the development of Hybrid Annuity model with Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) to
provide water to every field. The pilot project based on that concept is being implemented in Haryana and
circulated to all states for replication and adoption as per the local needs.

Siang Multi-Purpose River Valley Project

To harness the hydro power potential in North-East part of India, the Multi-Purpose River Valley Project on
Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh has been proposed by MoWR, RD&GR. It is apprehended that run of the
river type hydro-electric projects being envisaged on Siang river would become unviable if non monsoon flow
decreases because of unforeseen reasons and therefore the single storage project of 9.2 BCM may be
developed. Subsequently Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog held a meeting with the Chief Minister of Arunachal
Pradesh and his cabinet colleagues along with the Central Ministries. Efforts are on to convince the project
affected persons for the single largest project and also to provide them with better R&R packages unlike those
like Sardar Sarovar Project Gujarat and Tehri Dam, Uttarakhand.

Water Management Index

In pursuit of cooperative and competitive federalism, NITI Aayog has been laying emphasis on developing
indicators on various social sectors. As a step in this direction and keeping in view the criticality of water for life,
NITI Aayog has prepared a report on Composite Water Management Index (CWMI). The Report was launched
on 14th June 2018 by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Shipping and Water
Resources and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. It has been circulated to all states.
CEO NITI Aayog has also chaired a National workshop on CWMI, Round II of which was held in August 2018.
This being an annual exercise, states have already initiated the uploading of data set on web portal, for round
II i.e. 2017-18.

Output-Outcome Budget
The Water and Land Resources Vertical has assisted DMEO, NITI Aayog in the preparation of Water & land
Resource part of Output-Outcome Budget (2018-19). The same is communicated to the Ministry of Water
Resources, RD &GR and DoLR.

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 Compendium of Best Practices
A compendium of best practices in various States in the area of water resources and management has been
prepared and has been uploaded on the NITI Aayog website. The preparation of second compendium for best
practices for the states where innovation triggered as a consequence of data compilation for CWMI is in
progress.

Committee on North East Water Resources

High Level Committee for proper management of water resources in the North Eastern Region has been set
up under the chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. The committee has prepared an action plan for
development of water resources in the region including for hydro power, inland transport, irrigation and drinking
water. The committee has recommended setting up a new entity i.e North Eastern Water Management
Authority (NEWMA) parallel to Brahmaputra Board for the proper management of water resources in North
Eastern Region. The report of the expert committee for suggesting immediate measures for proper
management of water resources in North Eastern India and the draft report of the High Level committee have
already been submitted and circulated to the states for their views and suggestions.

Revitalization of Rivers
The Vertical has developed an action plan to revitalize the rivers of India. The Action Plan envisages the
methodologies for revitalization, various measures to be taken, convergence of various on-going schemes under
the various central Ministries. It also contains the policy reforms with specific timelines and the way forward which
could be considered by the Central and State Governments along with the programmes for undertaking the
works of revitalization of rivers. Subsequently, NITI Aayog has issued an advisory to States along with Programme
of Action (POA) prepared by Department of Rural Development in collaboration of NITI Aayog.

Atal Bhujal Mission

After experiencing the problems of over exploitation of ground water and absence of common resource pool
concept, WR and LR Vertical of NITI Aayog along with MoWR, RD & GR has initiated Atal Bhujal Mission to
develop and replicate the sustainable Ground Water Development with the assistance of Rs.3000 crore with
World Bank. The scheme however is yet to be approved by the cabinet.

Drought Proofing of Bundelkahand Region of Uttar Pradesh

A team led by CEO, NITI Aayog has made a presentation to Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh to
undertake the drought proofing works in two districts of the state in collaboration with the Bhartiya Jain
Sanghatana- a well-established NGO of Maharashtra which has incredible experience in the field of drought
proofing of districts in Maharashtra. In the initiative, machine and technical support is provided by BJS and
other logistic and expenses of diesel for JCB, and other related machineries is to be provided by the State
Government and district administration.

Report on Land Titling

A Draft report of the Committee on “Land Titling- A Way forward” has been prepared in consultation with the
concerned ministries and departments, and states. The report has been shared with the States to follow the
concept of conclusive land titling.

Model Agriculture Land Leasing Act

An Expert Committee was constituted by NITI Aayog for preparing a model Agriculture land Leasing Act based on the
critical review of the existing agriculture tenancy laws of the States and keeping in view the need to legalize land
leasing. NITI Aayog’s Model Agricultural Land Leasing Act, 2016 specifically provides a legal and institutional
framework for legalization of agricultural land leasing which will encourage landowners to lease out land, without any
fear of losing landownership right and also enable the lessee cultivators to access institutional credit, insurance,
disaster relief etc., using written lease agreement. Following NITI Aayog’s Model Act, Uttarakhand has already
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amended its law which not only allows leasing out agricultural land for agriculture and allied activities, by all categories
of land owners, but also specifically mentions that lessee cultivators will be entitled to access institutional credit and
other benefits provided by Central and State government to farmers. Uttar Pradesh also has recently legalized land
leasing without specifically indicating the eligibility or entitlement of lessee cultivators to access credit. But even their
understanding is that if there is a written lease agreement as a proof of cultivation on lease basis, banks and other
financial institutions would advance loans to them. Earlier, Andhra Pradesh also passed a law (AP Land Licensed
Cultivators Act, 2011) for facilitating tenant cultivators access to loan and other support services. Once the Hon’ble
President gives his assent, the agricultural land leasing would become legal in both Madhya Pradesh and
Maharashtra which will help in the utilization of fallow land and also in enabling the lessee cultivators to access
institutional credit, insurance and other support services.

19. DATA MANAGEMENT AND ANALYSIS

The DM&A Vertical deals with issues relating to the entrepreneurship development and promotion, data
management and leveraging technology for improved analytics.
The main activity of the DM&A vertical during the current year has been in the following areas:
1. Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)
2. Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards 2018
3. Committee on Financial Literacy and Inclusion for Women
4. National Data Analytics Platform (NDAP)

Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP)

On 8 March 2018, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi,
launched the Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) to promote and support established as well as aspiring
women entrepreneurs in India.
The platform provides opportunities to women in India which helps them realize their entrepreneurial
aspirations, scale-up innovative initiatives and chalk out sustainable long term strategies for their businesses,
through partner initiatives.
Since its launch in March 2018, and within a short span of eight months, WEP through its partners have
offered various support services for WEP registered women entrepreneurs, some of them are as follows:
• WEP along with WEE Foundation launched two mentorship programmes, the first happened in IIT-D
and the other will soon begin in IIT-B.
• WEP in association with NEXUS started several Incubation cohorts for women entrepreneurs.
• WEP along with SREI and Google Internet saathi will onboard around 3,000 women entrepreneurs
from rural areas on WEP platform for them to avail services available on the platform.
• WEP partner INNSAEI Ventures has committed a corpus of INR 10 crores for WEP for women led
ventures in frontier technologies.
To initiate dialogue with various State Governments and to sensitize local stakeholders for building a conducive
entrepreneurial ecosystem for women entrepreneurs, WEP launched its 'RoadShow Series' in the month of
July 2018.
A number of such events happened in various states where a more than 1000 women entrepreneurs have
participated:
1) Mumbai: In Association with Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management
Studies (NMIMS), Mumbai.
2) Bengaluru:
a) In association with Jain University and United Nations and NASSCOM

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 b) WEP-eMERG event, in association with Ministry of Medium and Small Enterprises (MSME),
Government of India and Government of Karnataka
3) Delhi: International Conference on Empowering Women- Fostering Entrepreneurship, Innovation and
Sustainability in association with Shriram College of Commerce conference, New Delhi
4) Pune: In association with Symbiosis University, Pune
WEP will launch its highly evolved AI/ML based Version 2.0 of the online platform by adding an additional layer
of 'Mapping' to the platform through which information, schemes, programmes, events, courses, news etc.
will be shown to the user, based entirely on the chosen area of interest. This feature available on WEP portal
would greatly improve user experience and help in giving greater exposure to existing initiatives in this
ecosystem.

[For more details on WEP see Section E – Promoting Innovation]

Women Transforming India Awards 2018

WTI Awards 2018 received an overwhelming number of nominations — more than 1400 for the Third edition
of Women Transforming India (WTI) Awards. It is the flagship event of NITI Aayog, organized in partnership with
United Nations. The idea behind WTI Awards is to award and showcase such exceptional women
entrepreneurs who have broken the glass ceiling and have challenged stereotypes through businesses,
enterprises, and initiatives that:
• Provide innovative solutions to address key development challenges and/or,
• Impact communities
Top 12 nominees, selected through a transparent and highly objective process of screening and evaluation through
expert organization and eminent jury members were awarded in the formal ceremony held in the month of
December 2018.
Committee on Financial Literacy and Inclusion for Women
Since the core of WEP revolves around increasing economic participation of women and therefore the
decision-making role in various avenues of social involvement; a well quantified, specific and relevant guideline
is needed to ascertain financial inclusion through wider financial literacy of women. WEP therefore proposed a
Committee on Financial Literacy and Inclusion for Women in order to identify the challenges as well as the
measurable action plan to provide solution on the way to financial independence of women entrepreneurs. The
Committee is expected to submit its report in early 2019.
National Data Analytics Platform (NDAP) Project
The National Data & Analytics Platform (NDAP) Project is an initiative of Data Management & Analysis Vertical,
NITI Aayog. The objective of this Platform is to create a web portal that will serve as a single point for accessing
data across all Ministries of Government of India combined with intuitive visualization and self-service analytics.
The portal would provide natural language understanding based advanced search features to find the
appropriate data set across a huge variety of data spread across different areas and create a one stop
reference point for a wide segment of users for authentic, comprehensive and latest data on socio-economic
indicators of the country. The portal would have visualization and analytics features where different category of
users from the Government to researchers, individuals, journalists and other stakeholders can get insights
from the data.
Others Activities
• Developed a concept note on developing holistic MSME database for India that would be updated in
real-time. Note submitted to Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog and MSME Ministry.
• Carried out deliberations with MOSPI and NITI Senior Officials on the newly proposed “National Policy
for Official Statistics”.

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20. PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
The PPP Vertical is tasked with formulation of policies to ensure time-bound creation of world class
infrastructure; financing of investment in infrastructure; promotion of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) as the
preferred mode for construction and O&M of infrastructure projects; suggesting institutional, regulatory and
procedural reforms; standardization of PPP documents; evolving suitable reforms and policy initiatives for
consideration of the Government and appraisal of PPP projects. This year several path breaking initiatives have
been initiated that are aimed at promoting private and foreign direct investments in infrastructure.

SECTORAL DEVELOPMENTS

PPP for Development of Eco-Tourism Resorts on Islands

NITI Aayog is spearheading the holistic development of islands in India and in this regard it has envisaged to
develop sustainable eco-tourism projects in select islands of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Union
Territories. Based on the inputs received in the Investors Conference on Holistic Island Development on 10
August 2018, a Draft Model Concession Agreement (“MCA”) for development and operation of island resort
and supporting infrastructure has been formulated. Moreover, nine eco-tourism resort projects have been
identified out of which four are ready for launch. Going forward several other projects are expected to be taken
up for implementation through this route. The framework would also be useful for development of other
eco-tourism projects.

PPP for Electric Buses

In an attempt to shift from fossil fuels to cleaner energy forms and to make public transportation more
affordable and efficient, a MCA has been drafted to engage private sector investors to supply and operate
electric buses in cities. A stakeholders meeting was organized in October 2018, at NITI Aayog which laid the
contours of the project. The proposed OPEX-model would enable State Transport Bodies to introduce the
much-awaited fleet of e-buses in the cities without incurring large capital investments and creation of
maintenance infrastructure including undertaking the O&M of the fleet. The model creates a win-win situation
for both the private entities as well as the state authorities.
PPP for Integrated-Micro-Irrigation
Concept Note for setting up integrated micro-irrigation system in India through PPP mode has been prepared
and shared with all the State Governments. The project would have two key components ‘common
infrastructure’ and ‘on-farm distribution’. A MCA is proposed to be drafted and a pilot project has been
identified for implementation in the State of Haryana under the ongoing Development Support Services for
States (“DSSS”) initiative of NITI Aayog.

PPP for Ropeways Development to Increase Accessibility

Passenger ropeways have garnered renewed interest in recent years. Many state governments have
expressed interest to install ropeway systems as it will facilitate development of tourist spots and improve
connectivity to inaccessible terrain within a city or locality. Globally, ropeways are also being implemented to
provide urban transport. In view of the importance of ropeways, NITI Aayog prepared a draft Model
Concession Agreement to standardize the guidelines for facilitating private sector participation to implement
ropeway projects under a suitable design, built, finance, operate & transfer (DBFOT) PPP framework. A
stakeholder meet was held in June 2018. Further, in order to delve deeper into O&M and the construction
standards to be adopted, various follow-up meetings have been organized with the stakeholders with the aim
of ropeway projects meeting global benchmarks in operations and safety. It also aims at bringing in state of the
art technology enabling Indian manufacturers to upgrade their facilities, equipment for domestic as well as
global markets.

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 Workshop on Alternate Financing
To abate the burden on the banking system to fund large ticket size infrastructure projects, NITI Aayog has
been exploring avenues and newer modes for further deepening alternative sources of financing for
infrastructure (other than commercial banks) in India. In this regard, a round-table on Alternative Sources of
Financing Infrastructure in India was organised in April 2018 at NITI Aayog.

Report on Potential Sectors for Implementing ‘Asset Recycling’ Model in India

Considering the importance of private sector participation in infrastructure and need for the Government to
raise finances from alternate sources, the Vertical prepared a report on opportunities for implementing
brownfield PPP or asset recycling in India. Asset-recycling is a PPP model which entails monetization of viable
projects that have established stable revenue flows after being commissioned. Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT)
model implemented by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is one such successful case. Adoption of
this model not only helps the government to free up funds for taking up new projects but also improve service
levels through private sector participation in operation and maintenance of assets. The report highlights key
sectors in which the Government can further explore asset recycling opportunities.

CAPACITY BUILDING INITIATIVE

Best Practices Collation – India Knowledge Hub Portal

A dedicated section on Public-Private Partnerships has been developed on NITI Aayog's India Knowledge
portal. Eight case studies on PPP best practices have been uploaded on the portal so far. These include:
a) Karnataka PPP initiatives in which the functioning of the PPP cell of the Government of Karnataka and
the State’s support for PPP projects have been examined;
b) PPP in Urban Rail Projects discusses the reasons for failure of the PPP framework in the case of Delhi
Metro Airport Express Line and success of the Hyderabad Metro Rail Project;
c) Nagpur city Urban Water Supply examines the operation, maintenance & development PPP contract
in the water supply and sanitation sector, along with the bidding process and its impact;
d) Development of Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam Limited (HVPNL) electricity transmission infrastructure
which elaborates the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) PPP model adopted by
HVPNL to facilitate electricity transmission;
e) Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) highlights the key aspects of HAM which is used as an alternative to
DBFOT models for projects where user charges are not sufficient for private investment;
f) Asset Recycling discusses the important aspects of asset recycling or reverse BOT PPP model;
g) Madhya Pradesh PPP initiatives looks into the various initiatives the government of Madhya Pradesh to
promote development of infrastructure through PPP and also examines some prominent PPP projects
undertaken by the State in various sectors; and
h) National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) elaborates on the setting up of NIIF as a PPP to support
commercial infrastructure development.

PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP APPRAISAL UNIT (PPPAU)

During 2018-19 (up to September 2018), 13 Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects with a total cost of
Rs.15942.85 Crore have been appraised by the PPPAU. This includes 11 Central sector projects and 2 State
sector projects. The sector-wise distribution of the PPP projects appraised are given in the table below:

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PPP Projects appraised in 2018-19 (Up to 20.9.2018)

Sl.No. Project Appraised No. of Projects Total Cost

(Rs. in Crore)
A Central Projects
1 Road 10 10517.40
2 AirPort* 1 -
Sub Total (A) 11 10517.40
B State/UT Projects
1 Road 1 1336.45
2 Sea Port 1 4089.00
Sub Total (B) 2 5425.45
Grand Total (A+B) 13 15942.85

* The nature of the project is operation and maintenance and there was not any Capital Expenditure envisaged.

Apart from the projects of the Central Government, the PPPAU also appraises projects of States/UTs for
Viability Gap Funding (VGF). During 2018-19 (up to September 2018), State projects involving an estimated
investment of about Rs. 5425.45 Crore have been appraised whose details are given in the table below:

State-wise PPP Projects appraised for Grant of VGF in 2018-19 (Up to 20.9.2018)

Sl.No. Project Appraised No. of Projects Total Project Cost

(Rs. in Crore)
1 Uttar Pradesh 1 1336.45
2 Kerala 1 4089.00
Total 2 5425.45

21. PROJECT APPRAISAL & MANAGEMENT

One of the important functions undertaken at NITI Aayog is the appraisal of public sector
programmes/schemes/projects. The appraisal work is undertaken by Project Appraisal Management Division
(PAMD). The PAMD has been assigned to discharge the following functions;
Some major specific activities undertaken by the division during 2018-19 are as follows:
(i) Prescribe guidelines and develop formats for the submission of proposals for projects and
programmes for techno economic appraisal;
ii) Undertake support research studies to improve the methodology and procedure for appraisal of
projects and programmes;
iii) Undertake techno economic appraisal of major projects and programmes in the public sectors; and
iv) Assist Central ministries in establishing proper procedures for preparation of reports of projects and
programmes.

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 Appraisal Work
As a part of techno-economic appraisal, PAMD conducts comprehensive appraisal of Plan schemes and
projects costing Rs. 500 crore and above and prepares appraisal notes in consultation with the subject
divisions of the Planning Commission. The stipulated timeframe for issue of Appraisal Note by PAMD is four
weeks from the date of receipt of EFC/PIB memo. The appraisal by PAMD facilitates decision-making in respect
of projects/schemes considered by the Public Investment Board (PIB), the Expenditure Finance Committee
(EFC) and the Committee of Public Investment Board (CPIB), depending upon the nature and size of proposals.
The Division also appraises proposals of Ministry of Railways costing Rs.500 crore and above to be considered
by the Expanded Board of Railways (EBR). Revised cost estimate (RCE) proposals are also appraised by the
Division to analyse the factors attributed to cost and time overruns and their impact on the viability.

Number of Appraisals Undertaken by PAMD During 2018

During 2018 (up to 30.09.2018), a total of 94 appraisal notes on EFC/PIB/EBR proposals involving outlay of
Rs. 1809772.06 have been issued.
The sectoral distribution of projects appraised from January 2018 to September 2018 is illustrated in the table
below.
Sector group-wise projects appraised during Jan 2018 to Sep 2018

SECTOR-WISE NUMBER AND COSTS OF EFC/PIB PROPOSALS APPRAISED IN PAMD

(from 1st Jan 2018 to 30th Sept 2018)
2018-19 (from 1st Jan
2018 to
30th Sept 2018)
S.No. SECTORS No. Cost (Rs cr.)
AGRICULTURE
1 Agriculture & Allied Sectors 4 721550.04
ENERGY
2 Power 7 70174.26
3 Coal * *
4 Petroleum & Natural Gas 2 26841.50
5 New & Renewable Energy 4 223823.00
TRANSPORT
6 Railways 5 15994.38
7 Surface Transport 6 20236.14
8 Civil Aviation 4 5097.91
9 Shipping 1 3090.28
INDUSTRY
10 Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises 1 9381.00
11 Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises 2 9938.72
12 Steel & Mines * *
13 Petro Chemicals & Fertilisers * *
14 Textiles * *
15 Food Processing Industries 2 2925.00
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
16 Bio-Technology * *
17 Science & Technology 1 3660.00
18 Scientific & Ind. Research * *
19 Ocean Development * *
20 Earth Sciences 2 3073.00
SOCIAL SERVICES
21 HRD 12 263478.07
22 Culture * *
23 Youth Affairs & Sports 2 2673.30

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 24 Health & Family Welfare 2 2377.49
25 Women & Child Dev. * *
26 Labour & Employment * *
27 Social Justice & Empowerment 3 23062.00
28 Urban Development 1 70000.00
29 Rural Development 3 84334.60
30 Minority Affairs * *
31 Tribal Affairs 1 7898.00
32 Drinking Water Supply * *
33 Food & Public Distribution * *
COMMUNICATION
34 Information & Broadcasting 2 4160.47
35 Post * *
36 Electronics and Information Technology * *
37 Communication * *
OTHERS
38 Home Affairs 2 5357.03
39 Tourism 1 2780.00
40 Commerce & Industry 2 8566.99
41 Environment & Forests 2 1980.44
42 Law & Justice * *
43 Water Resources 3 56593.94
44 North Eastern Region 2 4183.72
45 Consumer Affairs * *
46 Finance/Corporate Affairs 2 14277.00
47 Planning Commission/NITI Aayog * *
48 External Affairs 1 520.00
49 Statistics & Program Implementation 1 2741.86
50 Parliamentary Affairs * *
51 Panchayati Raj * *
52 Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation 8 128588.92
53 Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2 9540.00
54 Personnel,Public Grievances and pensions 1 873.00
Total 94 1809772.06
*Nil proposals received from respective line ministry for the particular period

Task Force on Project Management

The Public sector projects in India suffer significant time and cost overruns due to poor project management.
Considering the need to infuse better project management practices, a Task-Force under the Chairmanship of
CEO, NITI Aayog was constituted comprising of representatives of the various Departments/Ministries and
entities.

Evidence based Policy Making Conference

NITI Aayog has been engaging with State Governments to evolve a shared vision of national development and
strategies to share the best practices. In this context, India Consensus - a partnership between Tata Trusts and
Copenhagen Consensus - presented their findings on cost-benefit analysis undertaken across policy areas in
Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan in June 2018 in NITI Aayog. The presentation was chaired by Dr Rajiv Kumar,
Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog and was attended by Additional Chief Secretaries/Principal Secretaries/Secretaries
dealing with the Planning Department of 32 States and Union Territories, Joint Secretaries from 14 Ministries,
senior officers of NITI Aayog, eminent economists and researchers.

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 22. VOLUNTARY ACTION CELL
The Government of India recognizes the collaborative role of the voluntary sector in the socio-economic
development of the country. The task of the Voluntary Action Cell is mainly to promote voluntarism in the
country. The functions of the cell include preparation of the policy guidelines for the voluntary sector,
operationalization of national policy on the voluntary sector, 2007; preparation of guidelines for implementation
of various schemes of the Government through voluntary organisations, maintenance of database of
NGOs/VOs etc.
An important initiative of the VAC is maintaining an electronic database of VOs/NGOs, which is done through
the portal, NGO Darpan. The Portal is an e Governance application to electronically maintain data regarding
NGOs/VOs in the country. The portal is also an attempt to create scope for NGOs/VOs to operate in the
country with transparency.
In order to transact business with the line Ministries/ Departments, an NGO has to first sign-up on the NGO
Darpan to obtain unique identity number by furnishing the required details like registration certificate of the
organisation, PAN of the organisation, PAN and Aadhaar details of office bearers/trustees etc.
The Ministry of Home Affair has also made it mandatory for NGOs/VOs to get Unique ID from NGO Darpan
Portal of NITI Aayog before applying/renewal of FCRA number. In a meeting it was also decided to process the
proposals for Grants only through the Portal for which consultations are under process with the concerned
Ministries/ Departments.
A Working/Standing Committee to work as a Standing Forum for the Sustainable engagement with Civil
Society Organizations involved in various areas of Service Delivery has been constituted. The Working
Committee may specifically focus on the following areas of Service Delivery through CSOs:
(i) Health, Nutrition and Sanitation.
(ii) Child Rights/Juvenile Justice/Child Labour.
(iii) Bonded Labour.
(iv) Trafficking of Women and Children.
(v) Women Empowerment and Security.
(vi) Disability and barrier free movement.
(vii) Elderly Care.
(viii) Basic amenities and infrastructure.
(ix) Inclusive and Alternative Education.
(x) Skill development/vocational trainings/Promotion of Entrepreneurship.
(xi) Economic Empowerment through Microfinance.
(xii) Disaster Relief/ Environment Issue.
The First Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Service Delivery CSOs was held on 16 March, 2018 under
the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog. In the meeting it was decided to constitute five Sub Groups
to identify critical areas and bottlenecks in respective thematic areas so that suitable steps can be taken to
address the issues relating to policy and operational difficulties, especially in the Aspirational Districts.
Accordingly, the following five Sub-Groups have been constituted comprising members of the Committee on
the basis of Areas of their working:

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Sub Group No. and Theme Members
Sub Group-I
Livelihoods (Tribal and other CSOs: Pradaan, Industree Foundation, Barefoot College,
vulnerable Groups & Skill Entrepreneur Associates, CYSD, Myrada
development Financial Inclusion) Representatives from Central Ministries: M/o Tribal Affairs,M/o
Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, D/o Rural Development,
M/o Labour and Employment, D/o Financial Services,
M/o Housing and Urban Development
Coordinator: Pradaan
Sub Group –II
Health Nutrition and Sanitation CSOs: Akshay Patra Foundation, Sulabh International, Ramakrishna
Mission, Samarthyam, Narayan Sewa Sansthan, Help Age India,
Prabhaav Foundation (Mrs. Parul Kumar)
Representative from Central Ministries: D/o Health and Family
Welfare, M/o Women and Child Development, M/o Drinking Water
and Sanitation, M/o Housing and Urban Affairs
Coordinator: Akshay Patra Foundation
Sub Group-III
Education CSOs: Pratham, Aid-et-Action, Sasthra Sahitya Parishath
Representatives from Central Ministries: D/o School Education
and Literacy, D/o Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, D/o Youth
Affairs and D/o Sports
Coordinator: Pratham
Sub Group –IV
Access to Justice (Gender/Child CSOs: Prayas, MSEMVS, Peace Trust, Yateem Trust, Mann Deshi
Rights/Bonded Labour/Trafficking/ Foundation, SEWA
Disability) Representatives from Central Ministries: Ministry of Women and
Child Development, Ministry of Labour and Employment, D/o
Empowerment of persons with Disabilities
Coordinator: Prayas
Sub Group-V
Self-Regulation of Voluntary Sector CSOs: CYSD, IC Centre for Governance, Help Age India
Representative from Central Ministries: M/o Home Affairs,
D/o Rural Development, M/o Corporate Affairs, D/o SJE,
M/o Women and Child Development, M/o Tribal Affairs
Coordinator: CYSD

The second Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Service Delivery CSOs was held on 19 November
2018, under the Chairmanship of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog to review the progress made and it was decided
that the sub groups will complete the actions assigned and submit their reports.
A meeting with DG, NIC was held in June 2018 under the Chairmanship of Shri Yaduvendra Mathur, Special
Secretary, some action points in respect of NITI Aayog, NIC and Ministries/Departments were decided.
Another meeting in July 2018, was held with 30 Ministries/Departments, who had not availed web service of
NGO Darpan Portal for verifying the credentials of NGOs/Vos. Some action points were decided to be
implemented by NITI Aayog and concerned Central Ministries /Department. Out of them some action points
have to be completed with the collaboration of NITI Aayog and concerned Central Ministry/Department.

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 23. GOVERNING COUNCIL SECRETARIAT
The Governing Council Secretariat (GCS) coordinates activities of all the subject matter verticals/Units,
including circulation of letters/papers received from other Ministries/Departments as well as issues meeting
notices, prepares agenda notes and also minutes of the meetings of Senior Officers (SOM) of NITI Aayog.
The Secretariat organized the Fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, held under the
Chairmanship of the Prime Minister on 17th June, 2018 at RBCC, President Secretariat, New Delhi. The
Governing Council chaired by the Prime Minister deliberated on various issues of national and regional
importance.

Other Important works being handled by the Governing Council Secretariat include coordination work relating
to Parliamentary/RTIs/Cabinet Note; formulation of guidelines of the scheme dealt with by GCS as well as
circulation for requisite material and preparation of monthly D.O letter to Cabinet Secretary and the Council of
Ministers; and highlighting the achievements of NITI Aayog.

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Since, Governing Council Secretariat is the nodal division for operation of the Central Plan Scheme “Plan
Formulation, Appraisal and Review” it processed sanctions, payments, Audit replies etc. during 2018-19.

[For more details see Section D – Cooperative Federalism]

24. OFFICIAL LANGUAGE DIVISION (HINDI SECTION)

Hindi Section continued its efforts towards greater use of Hindi in official work during the year keeping in view
the Annual Programme issued by the Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Official
Language Policy of the Union, for implementation of the Official Language Act, 1963 and Official Language
Rules 1976 made there under.
Besides translating various documents/papers, this Section is also responsible for ensuring the
implementation of the Official Language Policy in the NITI Aayog and its subordinate offices. Efforts are being
made to promote the use of Hindi in notings and correspondence. The quarterly progress reports regarding
progressive use of Hindi were sent regularly to the Department of Official Language. Quarterly progress reports
received from the attached/subordinate offices were reviewed regularly. Hindi Section translated various
documents, like Annual Report, Outcome Budget, Demand for Grants, material related to the Parliamentary
Standing Committees, Parliament questions, Website of NITI Aayog, notifications, MoU, forms/drafts, letters,
etc. A number of measures have been taken for the promotion of progressive use of Hindi in NITI Aayog.

Implementation of Section 3(3) of the Official Language Act

In pursuance of the official language policy of the Govt. of India, all documents covered under section 3(3) of
the Official Language Act, 1963 are being issued both in English and Hindi. Annual Programme and other
orders/instructions issued by the Department of Official Language were forwarded to all the Sections of the
Aayog and its attached/subordinate offices for information and directives were issued for their compliance.

Official Language Implementation Committee (OLIC)

The Official Language Implementation Committee (OLIC) functions under the chairmanship of Advisor (OL).
This committee periodically reviews the progress made in connection with the use of Hindi and gives
appropriate suggestions and recommends measures to be taken for the effective implementation of the official
language policy. The meetings of this committee are held regularly and the offices under the control of the
Aayog were also instructed for convening OLIC meetings regularly.

Incentive Scheme for original noting/drafting work in Hindi

The incentive scheme for noting/drafting in Hindi introduced by the Department of Official Language was
continued. The scheme carries two first prizes of Rs.5,000/- each, three second prizes of Rs.3,000/- each
and five third prizes of Rs.2000/- each.

Cash prize scheme for dictation in Hindi

An incentive scheme for officers for giving dictation in Hindi is in operation. Under this scheme, there is a provision
of two cash prizes of Rs. 5,000/- each (one for Hindi speaking and the other for Non-Hindi speaking staff).

Hindi Fortnight
In order to encourage the use of Hindi in official work amongst officers/employees of the NITI Aayog, message
received from the Home Minister & an appeal from Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Planning were
circulated to the sections, officers of the NITI Aayog and its attached/subordinate offices. During the Hindi
fortnight, which was organized from 1st September to 15th September, 2018, various competitions such as
Hindi Essay writing, Hindi typing, Hindi translation, Hindi noting/drafting, Extempore speech and knowledge of
official language were organized. A Hindi dictation competition was also organized for the Multi-Tasking Staff of
the Aayog.

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 Hindi Workshops
During the year two Hindi workshops were organized on 11th and 14th September, 2018 in the NITI Aayog to
encourage the officials to undertake more work in Hindi and all together 21 officers/employees participated in
these workshops.

Inspections regarding progressive use of Hindi

In order to oversee the implementation of the official language policy, one subordinate office i.e. National
Institute of Labour Economics Research and Development and five Divisions/Sections of different Verticals
were inspected by the officers of the official language Division of NITI Aayog during the year.

25. CHARTS, MAPS & EQUIPMENT UNIT

The Charts, Maps & Equipment Unit (Communication Cell) is a Centralised Designing and Technical Support
Unit of NITI Aayog.
This Unit provides technical and equipment support to all the Verticals of NITI Aayog for day-to-day office work.
The unit also looks after the work relating to procurement/ maintenance of audio-video equipment installed in
the committee rooms.
Apart from designing work, there are meeting related works like arrangement of power point presentations,
name display cards, flashing of meeting schedules etc. The preparation of Identity Cards of officials attaining
superannuation, calligraphic works and scanning etc. are also executed in the Charts, Maps & Equipment Unit
(Communication Cell). This unit plays a significant role in Meetings, Conferences and Seminars organised by
NITI Aayog from time-to-time within and outside NITI Aayog.
During 2018-19, the Charts, Maps & Equipment Unit (Communication Cell) has undertaken the following
works:-
• Provided technical and equipment support for various high level meetings organised by NITI Aayog
within and outside NITI Aayog, such as:
• 4th meeting of Governinng Council Secretariat
• MOVE- Global Mobility Summit 2018
• Designing of cover pages of various publications brought out by various Verticals of NITI Aayog.
• Display of meetings related information on the display screens.
• Prinouts (Colour & Black and White), of official documents like various reports, handouts of
presentations etc. were provided to different divisions.
• Execution of bulk photocopying/duplicating works.
• Execution of Binding work for various Verticals of NITI Aayog.

26. LIBRARY AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE

The Library and Documentation Centre, being knowledge and information centre of the NITI Aayog, provides
comprehensive access to books, journals, reports etc. to all staff members of the NITI Aayog. It provides
reference services and lending facilities to the members of the Library. The Library has also provided
accessibility to different databases on the intranet of the NITI Aayog. In-house consultation facility was
extended to officials from other departments and research scholars enrolled with institutions/universities.
The Library Collection is made up of over two lakhs books, reports, bound volume journals and audio-visual
items. The Library currently holds 165 journals/magazines and newspapers, both English and Hindi. The
Library is currently subscribing to the following databases:

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Bloomberg
• CEIC
• CMIE
• IMF E-library
• India Infra Monitor
• India Stat
• Manupatra
• Press Reader
• World Bank e-library
Online access facility of journals is also given to the members of the Library. The Library is fully automated with
the help of Library Software LS Premia of Libsys Ltd.
The Library is bringing out following Publications:-
The Daily Digest containing news information pertaining to NITI Aayog; and full articles, editorials,
comments and analysis published in different newspapers on different topics.
Weekly Bulletins for following five different Verticals: Energy, Health, Infrastructure, Rural Development/Agri-
culture, SC & DP Division
Monthly Book Alerts containing picture of the front cover and a short abstract of the new books purchased
in the Library.
Monthly DOCPLAN containing abstracts of articles, taken from the periodicals received in the Library, related
with core area of subjects dealt by the NITI Aayog.
List of Additions containing bibliographic details of books/documents added/ received in the Library for users.
During the period (1st April 2018 to 31st October 2018, under report 1974 books have been added to the
collection. In addition, 165 periodicals/magazines and newspapers were received in the Library. The Library
also responded to approximately 4412 reference queries and attended to specific needs of users. About
7000 (app.) readers visited the library for the purpose of consultation and reference work.

27. RIGHT TO INFORMATION CELL

The RTI Cell (Soochna Dwar) responds to all RTI queries received online https://rtionline.gov.in or received
physically through post.
During the period 2018-19, the RTI Cell was engaged in the following activities:
• 1060 RTI queries were received, of which 1004 have been disposed (upto November 2018).
• 56 appeals were received and 50 have been disposed off (upto November 2018).
• Eight CIC hearings were attended (upto November 2018).

28. PARLIAMENT SECTION

Parliament Section deals with Parliament Questions; Calling Attention Notices; Half-an-Hour discussions;
Resolutions; Private Members’ Bills; No-Day-Yet-Named Motions; Matters raised in Lok Sabha under Rule 377
and by way of Special Mention in Rajya Sabha; Parliament Assurances; Meetings of Parliamentary Committees;
Standing Committee on Finance; Laying of reports and papers in both the Houses of Parliament; arranging
temporary and Session-wise General and Official Gallery passes for the Officers of NITI Aayog; and other work
relating to Parliament including procurement of Budget Document, Economic Survey and President’s Speech to
both the Houses of Parliament, for distribution amongst Vice Chairman, Members and officers of NITI Aayog.

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 The Parliament Section also does the needful for the Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of
Planning’s Briefing pertaining to Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha Starred Questions.
During the year2018, this Section undertook the following activities:
• Arranged to get approval of MoS (Independent Charge) for the Ministry of Planning for 7 Starred and 63
Unstarred Questions and prepared sets for Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha in time and also uploaded the same
on the web portal of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Necessary arrangements were made for the meetings of the Standing Committee on Finance on
Demands for Grants 2018-19 of the Ministry of Planning/NITI Aayog.
• Follow up action on recommendations of Standing Committee was taken and statement on Status of
Implementation of recommendations contained in the 60th & 66th Reports of the Standing Committee on
Finance on Demands for Grants (2018-19) were sent to Parliament.
• Demands for grants 2018-19 of Ministry of Planning was laid on both the Houses of Parliament.
• Annual Report for the years of 2017-18 of NITI Aayog was circulated to MPs of both Houses of Parliament
through Publication Counters.
• Seven Assurances were given in Lok Sabha and three Assurances in Rajya Sabha were fulfilled during the
period.
• Background Notes on various subjects selected by the Standing Committee on Finance were sent to Lok
Sabha Secretariat.
• Sessional and other passes for the meeting held in Parliament House Premises were arranged for the
senior officers of NITI Aayog.
• This Section also coordinated for sending reply to the concerned MPs regarding six Matters raised under
Rule 377 in Lok Sabha.

29. CAREER MANAGEMENT

During the financial year 2018-19 (from April 2018 to September, 2018) 45 Officers were deputed to represent
NITI Aayog / Government of India in International Workshops/Seminars/ Meetings/ Conferences etc. or to
participate in training programmes organized by various international organizations such as World Bank, Asian
Development Bank (ADB), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), International Labour Organisation
(ILO) etc. and by DOPT under the DFFT Scheme in various countries which included foreign visits of Vice
Chairman/Members to various countries during this period.
During this period, 21 officers belonging to IAS, IES, ISS, GCS, library staff etc. of NITI Aayog and
Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) were deputed for various training programmes
sponsored/conducted by Deptt. of Personnel & Training, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Statistics
& Programme Implementation at Indian Maritime University (IMU), Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI)
etc. and at various other Government and Autonomous Institutes/ Organizations at different places within India.
This included the officers/staff belonging to CSS, CSCS and CSSS who were sent for various mandatory and
other training programmes conducted by the Institute of Secretariat Training and Management (ISTM), New
Delhi.
Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog has been serving as India’s G-20 Sherpa since September, 2015. In his capacity,
he has represented India at the 3rd and 4th G-20 Sherpa meetings.
As part of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project with Japan, an Indian delegation comprising of Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog along with Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Adviser (Transport), NITI
Aayog visited Tokyo, Japan during 1-3 April, 2018 to attend the Seventh meeting of High Level Joint
Committee of Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail.

146
IIn addition to this, during the above period, NITI Aayog also conducted two Interactive Sessions on for
Officers of Indian Forest Service Officers, nominated by Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA),
Dehradun.

NITI Aayog is also considering a proposal of CESS, India on “Behavioral Insights Training and Incubation Programme
(BITI), the role of which will be to train the Govt. Ministries/Departments about Behavioral Insights. In this regard Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog chaired a meeting with the Secretaries of Deptt. Of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances
and Deptt. Of Personnel & Training including senior Officers of NITI Aayog on 13th September, 2018.

CM Section has been allocated a Budget of Rs. 250 Lakhs under the ‘Foreign Travel Expenses” for the year
2018-19. Out of this an expenditure of Rs. 71,28,265/- has been incurred upto 30th September, 2018. In
addition, a budget of Rs. 25 Lakhs has also been allotted under Domestic Training Programmes.

30. ORGANIZATION METHODS AND COORDINATION (OM&C)

OM&C Section has adopted online system of handling of public grievances through CPGRAMS since January
2018. More than 2900 public grievance petitions were redressed from the month January 2018 to March
2018. NITI Aayog has been awarded a Certificate Of Appreciation from Minister of State (MoS)(Independent
Charge) for the Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions for doing commendable work during the quarter
(January-March, 2018) for redressal of public grievances received on PG Portal.
OM&C is playing a key role in the process of implementation of e-office in NITI Aayog by getting the old records
scanned and converting them into e-Office. OM&C also handles works relating to amendment in Delegation
of Financial & Administrative Powers and Preparation of Induction Material.
In May 2018, proper channel of submission and final level of disposal of files/papers in NITI Aayog was also
finalized by OM&C Section.
For encouragement of official language, OM&C Section is working completely in Hindi as far as issuance of
Photo/Permanent ID Cards, etc. is concerned. NOCs are also being issued in Hindi only.
Special celebrations on the eve of 4th International Yoga Day on 21st June, 2018, were organised by the
Vertical. Special sessions of Yoga, Acupressure and Naturopathy for the welfare of our employees were
organized in NITI Aayog to encourage yoga.
OM&C Vertical is nodal for implementation of Prime Minister’s ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’ and celebrated the 4th

147
 Anniversary of Swachh Bharat Diwas in NITI Aayog from 15 September to 2 October 2018. During the
celebration of Swacchta Pakhwada (fortnight), emphasis was given to maintaining cleanliness in and around
the surroundings of NITI Aayog. Dr. Rajiv Kumar, VC, NITI Aayog also administered a Swacchta Pledge.
OM&C Section also deals with cases of appointment of Registered Medical Practitioners as Authorized
Medical Attendants (AMAs) for the benefit of the employees of NITI Aayog and their family members, who do
not have CGHS facility in the area of their residence. In addition, this is the nodal section for all kinds of
coordination works/activities where more than one section of NITI Aayog is involved including issuing orders
for deputing staff on Election duties. OM&C Section is responsible for invitation cards for Republic Day,
Beating Retreat and Independence Day Celebrations for officers of NITI Aayog. OM&C also arranges Town hall
Meeting held under the chairmanship of VC, NITI Aayog

31. VIGILANCE CELL

Vigilance Section of the NITI Aayog deals with all vigilance cases of corruption, malpractices and lack of
integrity with respect to the conduct of officials and officers working in NITI Aayog. It is also responsible for
issuance of vigilance status certificates in respect of officials/officers in the NITI Aayog.
During the period from 1st January, 2018 to 31st December, 2018, around 450 vigilance clearances were
issued in respect of officials/officers of NITI Aayog. During this period, several RTIs were dealt with in the
Section. The cases of disciplinary proceedings against some officials and officers in NITI Aayog were
disposed of.

Preventive Vigilance
Vigilance awareness week was observed in NITI Aayog during 29 October - 3 November, 2018. The theme
was “Eradicate Corruption – Build a new India”. On this occasion, a pledge was administered by Vice
Chairman, NITI Aayog. Banners were placed at vantage points, with appropriate slogans. Important provisions
of Conduct Rules and other issues concerning vigilance awareness were circulated to the employees through
e-mail with a view to create awareness regarding rules and regulation prescribed in the CCS Conduct Rules,
1964 and CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.

Prevention of Sexual Harassment

An Internal Complaints Committee was constituted in accordance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal), Act 2013.

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Reports &
Publications
of NITI Aayog
in 2018 - 19
REPORTS & PUBLICATIONS OF NITI AAYOG IN 2018 - 19

Strategy for SDG India Index – Aspirational Composite 72 Hours of

New India@ 2022 Baseline Report Districts Baseline WATER Thinkering
2018 Ranking, Management Unicef - ATL
March 2018 Index 2017-18 Hackathon

National Strategy Transforming Zero Emission Good on the Data Driven

on Artificial India’s Mobility – Vehicles (ZEVs): Move – Efficiency Mobility –
Intelligence, A Perspective Towards a Policy and Sustainability Improving
June 2018 Framework in India Logistics Passenger
Transportation
Through Data

Moving Forward A Handbook on Research & States / UTs States / UTs

Together – Select Global and Development on Strategies for Strategies for
Enabling Shared Indian Best Electric Vehicle Transforming Transforming
Mobility in India Practices on Technologies Mobility – A Mobility – A
mobility Summary Compendium
 India Leaps India's Energy Valuing Society Summary Report Working Group
Ahead: Storage Mission: First: An on Sustainable Report - 1 -
Transformative A Make-in-India Assessment of Development in Inventory and
Mobility Solutions Opportunity for the Potential for a the Mountain of Revival of Springs
for All Globally Feebate Policy Indian Himalayan in the Himalayas
Competitive in India Region for Water Security
Battery
Manufacturing

Working Group Working Group Working Group Working Group DIGITAL

Report - 2 - Report - 3 - Report - 4 - Report - 5 - Data PAYMENTS -
Sustainable Shifting Cultivation: Strengthening Skill for Informed Trends, Issues
Tourism in the Towards a and Entrepreneurship Decision Making And Opportunities
Indian Himalayan Transformational Landscape in Indian along with the
Region Approach Himalayan Region Indian Himalayan
Region

Output Outcome Output Outcome Breathe: Report of the Task Report of the Task
Monitoring Monitoring An Action Plan for Force on Clean Force on Clean
Framework Framework Combating Transportation Fuel
2018-19 2018-19 Air Pollution -
(Volume 1) (Volume 2) Consultation
Paper
 Final Report

Fiscal Scenario in Punjab: Past Trends, Future Prospects, and

Challenges

Principal Investigator: Basanta K Pradhan

January 2018

Development Planning Centre

Institute of Economic Growth

University of Delhi Enclave (North Campus), Delhi-110007, India

State Finances of State Finances of Fiscal Scenario in Action Plan to Action Plan for
Kerala West Bengal Punjab: Past Revitalize Rivers Biomass
Trends, Future Management
Prospects &
Challenges

India Innovation
Index 2018

Low carbon Report on Transforming Improving Nutrition India Innovation

transition strategy Committee for India’s through Promotion Index 2018
for renewable Review of Gold Market of Millets under
energy integration Autonomous Public Distribution
- Workshop report Bodies – Phase I, System
on the Indian Parts I & II
power sector

TRANSFORMING
NUTRITION IN INDIA:
POSHAN ABHIYAAN
A PROGRESS REPORT
DECEMBER 2018
SCHOOL EDUCATION QUALITY INDEX (SEQI)

THE SUCCESS OF
OUR SCHOOLS
MAY 2018

Transforming School Education Transformation of Healthy States, Guidelines for

nutrition in India: Quality Index (SEQI) Aspirational Progressive India Public-Private
Poshan Abhiyaan Districts Report on the Ranks Partnership for
A new India of States and Union Non-communicable
by 2022 Territories Diseases