With it but not quite: NITI Aayog's changing equations with the Modi govt

The Centre's think-tank seems to be facing a lot of flak from senior govt ministers in the last few days

The Centre’s main think-tank, NITI Aayog seems to facing a lot of flak from senior government ministers in the last few days, which is unusual given the steady relationship it shared with the government ever since it replaced the Planning Commision of India few years back.

Last week, reports said that union transport minister Nitin Gadkari chided off NITI Aayog saying that it has no authority to take a call on vehicle technology and it was the mandate of his ministry. 

In a public function, Gadkari, who is known not to mince words said this in the context of the Aayog's rather tough stance regarding stopping registration of vehicle using Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to promote the use of Electric Vehicles (EVs).

NITI Aayog has been on the forefront of Centre’s move to promote EVs to cut down on pollution and was one of the main drivers of the FAME scheme that announced a host of incentives for the EV sector.

Sources said matters came to a head during a meeting between top automakers and senior Aayog members where the later took a tough stand on ensuring a timeframe for rollout of EVs both for two-wheelers and four wheelers and also laid out the options that government could take to ensure that sales of vehicles based in ICE engines could be lowered.

Since then, all the major automakers in the country have expressed their apprehension on any move to ban registration of ICE-engines but have also assured that they would move on a roadmap for EVs.

Few days, back, union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal in a seminar said that NITI Aayog’s views on various issues do not always reflect the government’s views as it is an independent think tank which comes up with new solutions constantly.

He was speaking in context of RSS-affiliated organizations like Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh blaming the organisation for killing jobs and sale of government assets.

Sometime back, NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology were engaged in a deadlock over who will take ownership of a government proposed artificial intelligence centre in India.

NITI Aayog had circulated a Cabinet note, asking for Rs 7,500 crore for three years to set up an AI framework. MeitY's plan estimated an expenditure of Rs 470-480 crore. 

Four panels set up by MeitY evaluated the use of AI for citizens, such as setting up a data platform, skilling and reskilling, research and development, and examining the challenges involving legal, regulatory, ethical and cybersecurity aspects. MeitY’s reports have not been made public.

The NITI Aayog released a discussion paper in June last year on the “National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence.”

New age technologies like AI fall under the purview of the MeitY but NITI Aayog has spearheaded several discussions on the subject. the paper last year was hailed as a good outlining of the issues to be addressed through AI but lacked a comprehensive implementation roadmap.

That apart, there also have been other issues where the Aayog has held views which are diametrically opposite to that of the government. Even within the organisation too there have been divergent views on several critical issues. 

One case in point is the government’s push for natural farming through Subhash Palekar’s Zero Budget Natural Farming Technique. 

While, the vice chairman of the Aayog, Rajiv Kumar is a known votary of the method, its senior member, Ramesh Chand feels natural farming is not the only solution to avoid chemicals in food products. 

Though, several experts said that given that NITI Aayog is an independent think-tank, it is meant to hold opinions on various matters which could be in variance to government’s stand, but things look ugly if it grows into a confrontation.

Some reports indicated that the Aayog’s tough stand on economic relief measures for the industry was one of the reasons behind government announcing a slew of measures for pushing up growth last week. But, how far this is true is open to interpretation.

Because, in the case of much-talked about EV rollout dates, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman settled the matter with her statement last week that registration of both EVs and liquid fuel driven vehicles will continue and there will be no ban on anyone.

The statement did bring in much needed clarity on the contentious issue, also indicated as to who held the upper hand in this. EoM

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