AM

Amrit MahapatraAIR 121· 2025

GS2GS2

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AnswerStrengthsGapsKeywords

Introduction

NITI Aayog has arisen as the principal advisory body post 2014 replacing the Planning Commission, promoting cooperative and competitive federalism.

20 words

Main Body

NITI Aayog has arisen as the principal advisory body post 2014 replacing the Planning Commission, promoting cooperative and competitive federalism.

Promoting Competitive Federalism:

Leverage of reports/indices to track relative performance, ex: Liveth Bharat Index.
Incentivise states to perform better in crucial sectors, ex: school ranking in terms of learning outcomes – PGI 2.0
Gamifying social responsibility, ex: Increased public participation.

Promoting Competitive Federalism:

Follows a bottom-up instead of top down approach, ex: Advisory consensus role unlike the Planning Commission.
Participation of states unlike earlier, ex: CME are invited to the Governing Body
Consensus-based decisions ensure better implementation, ex: PMU under Invest India (for better investment)
Expert Advice ensures evidence-based persuasion, ex: Unlike command models of Running Commission

However, it suffers from a few parallels:

Purely advisory nature of recommendations, ex: Armchair theorizing w/o ground impact.
Conflicts between states stymie progress, ex: No consensus on key issues
Regional diversity needs customized solutions, ex: Potential of no-uniformity pair India.
Political quandaries and lack of enough capacity, ex: No more lateral entry.

Thus, NITI Aayog needs to be bolstered further to realise the ideal of federalism by resolving these issues and lead to, 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Utkkas'.

205 words14 paragraphs

Conclusion

Thus, NITI Aayog needs to be bolstered further to realise the ideal of federalism by resolving these issues and lead to, 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Utkkas'.

25 words

  • Clear explanation of role of NITI Aayog
  • Specific examples with current schemes
  • Comparative analysis with Planning Commission
  • Practical examples of bottom-up approach
  • Balanced analysis with weaknesses
  • Reference to govt catchphrase

Open original scan

Page 30

Topper

Amrit Mahapatra

AIR 1212025

Subject & Paper

GS2GS2

Topic

Federal Structure - Functions, Responsibilities, Devolution of Powers and Finances

Federalism

Competitive Federalism and NITI Aayog

Writing Stats

250

Total words

14

Paragraphs

Analytical

Tone