Lokpal, Niti Aayog should enable India realise its strategic objectives: Sr IAS officer's book

The strength and resilience of critical institutions of the Lokpal, GST Council and the Niti Aayog, along with the government's sponsored programmes, should enable the country realise its strategic objectives, senior IAS officer V Srinivas has said in his new book.

In the book, titled "Towards a new India Governance Transformed 2014-2019", Srinivas has talked about in detail some of the government's key programmes and initiatives such as Digital India, social inclusion measures, cooperative federalism, improving justice delivery system and India's fight against corruption.

"Corruption impacts service delivery, when speed money is asked for registration of documents, sanctioning bank loans, amendments in land records, driving licences, and other routine services. Every form of corruption has an economic impact, and fighting corruption is an imperative need," he said.

Srinivas, who is at present posted as additional secretary in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, cited the role of cooperative federalism through the working of some of the constitutional institutions.

The appointment of the Lokpal demonstrates to the world that India is not second to any nation in making its public administration clean and fair, he said.

The strength and resilience of India's 3 critical institutions - the Lokpal, the GST council and the NITI Aayog, coupled with the government's numerous centrally sponsored programs should enable the nation realise the strategic objectives laid down in New India@75, Srinivas said.

The Niti Aayog had released the strategy for New India@75 (in 2022) in December 2018. The strategy paper seeks to bring together innovation, technology, enterprise and efficient management, at the core of policy formulation and implementation, to ensure that development becomes a "jan andolan" (mass movement).

In his book, Srinivas said the Niti Aayog continues to face the challenge of reforming the centrally sponsored schemes.

He said big reforms in this sector have been shifting greater responsibility to states in terms of financing and removing the distinction between plan and non-plan schemes.

"The qualitative changes in the centrally sponsored schemes remain a part of the New India@75 strategies. While the Niti Aayog has been a significant player in cooperative federalism, other institutions have emerged, the book said.

The GST Council, a constitutional body created under Article 279 A of the Constitution as a joint forum of the Union and the states, after 34 meetings has emerged as India's foremost federal institution, where decision making has been consensus driven and covers a diverse range of subjects, the author said.

The GST Council is a permanent institution entrusted with the responsibility to make recommendations on tax rates, cesses and surcharges to subsumed under the GST, as also exemptions under GST, Srinivas said.