’NITI Aayog is a unilateral decision’

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, January 3: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said that the decision to form the NITI Aayog, replacing Planning Commission, was a unilateral decision of the Centre and the opposition voiced by various states against it were not given any importance.

 “The PM announced of replacing the Planning Commission on August 15 and the states were formally told about it last month. It was a unilateral decision,” he said.

 “Our views were taken, but not given any weight. Not just Congress–ruled states, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh had also opposed the move to do away with the Planning Commission,” Gogoi said.

He said the formation of the NITI Aayog was a mere political gimmick as it would be entrusted with the same job as the Planning Commission.

The CM had also criticized the move to form NITI Aayog through Twitter yesterday.

 “Changing the me of Planning Commission is a cheap gimmick. People are not concerned with the me, but with the substance,” Gogoi wrote on Twitter.

He added, “Reming the Planning Commission is an attempt to belittle the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of modern India.”

The Centre had announced of replacing the Planning Commission with a NITI (tiol Institution for Transforming India) Aayog – a think–tank that will foster ‘cooperative federalism’ rather than take a top–down approach.