NITI Aayog's PEO, NILRD to host 5-day policy programme from Jan 19

Programme Evaluation Organisation (PEO) under the NITI Aayog and National Institute for Labour Economics Research and Development (NILRD) will organise a 5-day awareness programme on policy making and sustainable development from January 19.

The event will be inaugurated by Planning Minister Rao Inderjit Singh.

NILRD is an autonomous organisation under the Aayog.

"PEO and NILRD...Are jointly organising EvalWeek, a five-day event featuring consultations on strategies to spread awareness about and use of evaluation as a tool for enhancing results from policies and programmes of sustainable development and good governance," a NITI Aayog release said.

The newly created NITI Aayog, replacing the Planning Commission, has the noted economist and Columbia University Professor Arvind Panagariya as its Vice-Chairman. Panagariya took charge earlier this week.

The event marks the beginning of a chain of activities on the theme of evaluation for sustainable development planned by various national and international organisations across the globe coming together as EvalPartners over the year 2015, it said.

The year 2015 has been declared as the International Year of Evaluation.

Participants in EvalWeek consultations include central and state government officials, representatives of international and national organisations, individual researchers, academicians and evaluation practitioners.

Other events during the week include interactions of delegates from other countries with various divisions of NITI Aayog, round tables on gender-responsive and equity focused evaluations, case studies, emerging challenges and participatory approaches to evaluation.

The programme will conclude with a summing up of the outcomes and valedictory address by the CEO of NITI Ayog Sindhushree Khullar.

Other members of the NITI Aayog include economist Bibek Debroy and former DRDO chief VK Saraswat as full-time members.

Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Suresh Prabhu and Radha Mohan Singh will be the Ex-Officio members while their colleagues Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Zubin Irani and Thawar Chand Gehlot would be Special Invitees.

The Aayog has replaced the 65-year old Planning Commission, a vestige of the socialist era.