In 2017, NITI Aayog released a three year action agenda to
transform all three major sectors of economy, namely agriculture, industry and
services. The agenda was supposed to be implemented over 3year period FY18-FY20
For the farm sector, the agenda highlighted that "Farmers
make up nearly half of India’s workforce. Therefore, for India to flourish, its
farmers and the farm economy must prosper."
Accordingly, the Action Agenda outlined a strong programme for
agricultural transformation, including numerous measures to raise farm
productivity, bring remunerative prices to farmers, put farmers’ land to
productive uses when they are not able to farm it themselves and improve the
implementation of relief measures.
The Draft offered an ambitious agenda for empowering the rural
population through improved road and digital connectivity, access to clean
energy, financial inclusion and “Housing for All.”
The Draft recognized that "Enhancing agricultural
productivity requires of efficiently using inputs, introducing new technologies
and shifting from low to high value commodities."
It also highlighted that higher farm productivity would require
expanding the scope of irrigation to increase crop intensity, improvement in
access to irrigation, enhancing the seed replacement rate and encouraging the
balanced use of fertilizers.
The Draft agenda emphasized that "Precision farming and
related new technologies, that allow highly efficient farming and conserve
resources, must be spread through appropriate policy interventions."
Reforming APMCs, redefining the system of support prices for
crops, land reforms to make the landholdings of marginal farmers viable, and
adequate social security program for farmers to deal with stress due to natural
calamities etc. were some of the key suggestions.
The agenda stressed that to achieve the goal of doubling
farmers' income by 2022, "Conditions conducive to shift into high value
commodities such as horticulture, dairying, poultry, piggery, small ruminant
husbandry, fisheries and forestry need to be created."
For the industry and services sector, the agenda found that
underemployment and hence lower worker productivity is a more serious problem
in India, rather than unemployment, which has remained mostly consistent
between 5-8% through past many decades.
Accordingly, the Draft, emphasized on creation of
high-productivity, high wage jobs. To meet this end, it was highlighted, that
focus must be on measures necessary for the increased emergence of larger,
organized-sector firms.
While recognizing steady progress in the services sector, the
Agenda offered specific proposals for jumpstarting some of the key
manufacturing and services sectors, including apparel, electronic goods, gems
and jewellery, financial services, tourism and real estate.
Now as we draw close to the end of the target three year period,
it would be worthwhile to assess the execution status of the ambitious agenda.
I shall examine the actual implementation of the agenda over next few days, but
prima facie two things appear rather conspicuous to me:
(1) The replacement of the
Planning Commission with the NITI Aayog needs to be evaluated by the CAG. In the
interest of transparency and accountability, the government must also consider
issuing a White Paper on this issue. The way NITI is building its bureaucracy
and organizational staff, there appears almost no difference.
(2) Like other things, the
execution level of this agenda may also be below par.
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