New Delhi, January 01, 2015: The Central government will name the restructured version of the Planning Commission as Niti Ayog. The decision will be announced on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in December last year, held a meeting with the chief ministers of states on replacing the Planning Commission with a think tank that gives states a greater role in developing the country.
The PM had announced in his Independence Day speech that the government would disband the Commission, set up by first Prime Minister of the country, Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1950.
While addressing the Chief Ministers on December 7, he had invoked former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who had said on April 30 last year that the current structure has "no futuristic vision in the post-reform period".
He had pushed for an effective structure which strengthens "cooperative federalism" and the concept of "Team India".
There were indications that the new structure will have the Prime Minister, some Cabinet ministers and some chief ministers along with technocrats and experts in various fields.
Courtesy: Indiatoday