ECONOMIC PLANNING

After independence, one of the most difficult choices that the leaders had to make was to
decide the type of economic system that was capable enough to promote welfare equally
across the country. Among different types of economic system, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the
first Prime Minister of India, suggested Socialist Economy; however, it was not the same that
was practiced in the USSR. After great efforts, the planning committee decided to adopt a
mixed economic system − a judicious mix of both socialist and capitalist systems. Mixed
economy was finally chosen with the help of Industrial Policy Resolution of 1948 and
Directive Principle of Indian Constitution. Planning Commission was set up in 1950, and the
Prime Minister of India was made the chairperson of the commission.

Objectives of Economic Planning

1. Economic Development:
The main objective of Indian planning is to achieve the goal of economic development
economic development is necessary for under developed countries because they can solve the
problems of general poverty, unemployment and backwardness through it.
Economic development is concerned with the increase in per capita income and causes
behind this increase.
In order to calculate the economic development of a country, we should take into
consideration not only increase in its total production capacity and consumption but also
increase in its population. Economic development refers to the raising of the people from
inhuman elements like poverty unemployment and ill- health etc.
2. Increase Employment:
Another objective of the plans is better utilization of manpower resource and increasing
employment opportunities. Measures have been taken to provide employment to millions of
people during plans. It is estimated that by the end of Tenth Plan (2007) 39 crore people will
be employed.
3. Self-Sufficient:
It has been the objective of the plans that the country becomes self-sufficient regarding food
grains and industrial raw material like iron and steel etc. Also, growth is to be self sustained
for which rates of saving and investment are to be raised. With the completion of Third Plan,
Indian economy has reached the take off stage of development. The main objective of the
Tenth Plan is to get rid of dependence on foreign aid by increasing export trade and
developing internal resources.
4. Economic Stability:
Stability is as important as growth. It implies absence of frequent end excessive occurrence of
inflation and deflation. If the price level rises very high or falls very low, many types of
structural imbalances are created in the economy.
Economic stability has been one of the objectives of every Five year plan in India. Some rise
in prices is inevitable as a result of economic development, but it should not be out of
proportions.
5. Social Welfare and Services:

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The objective of the five year plans has been to promote labour welfare, economic
development of backward classes and social welfare of the poor people. Development of
social services like education, health, technical education, scientific advancement etc. has
also been the objective of the Plans.

PLANNING COMMISSION

Planning Commission, agency of the government of India established in 1950 to oversee the
country’s economic and social development, chiefly through the formulation of five-year
plans. The commission’s original mandate was to raise the standard of living of ordinary
Indians by efficiently exploiting the country’s material and human resources, boosting
production, and creating employment opportunities for all. It is today responsible for
periodically assessing the country’s resources; developing five-year plans, along with
strategies for implementing them; and monitoring the execution of the plans and
recommending adjustments of policy as outcomes warrant. The country’s first five-year plan
was launched in 1951.
The commission is chaired by India’s prime minister and includes a deputy chairman and
several full-time members. Each of the numerous divisions of the commission, corresponding
to sectors of the national economy and society, is headed by a senior officer. The divisions
include education, health, infrastructure, science, financial resources, industry, social welfare,
rural development, and water resources.

History of India’s Economic Plans:

Independence came to India with the partition of the country on 15 August 1947. In 1948, an
Industrial Policy Statement was announced. It suggested the setting up of a National Planning
Commission and framing the policy of a mixed economic system. On 26 January 1950, the
Constitution came into force. As a logical sequence, the Planning Commission was set up on
15 March 1950 and the plan era started from 1 April 1951 with the launching of the First Five
Year Plan (1951-56).
How ever, the idea of economic planning in India can be traced back to the pre-independent
days. “The idea of economic planning gained currency in India during and after the years of
the Great Agricultural Depression (1929-33). The then Government of India was by and large
guided by a policy of leaving economic matters to individual industrialists and traders.”
● 1934: It is rather surprising that blueprints for India’s planning first came from an
engineer-administrator, M. Visvervaraya. He is regarded as the pioneer in talking
about planning in India as a mere economic exercise. His book ‘Planned Economy
for India’ published in 1934 proposed a ten-year plan.
● 1938: In 1938, the Indian National Congress headed by Pandit J.L. Nehru
appointed the National Planning Committee (NPC) to prepare a plan for economic
development. The NPC was given the task of formulating a comprehensive
scheme of national planning as a means to solve the problems of poverty and
unemployment, of national defence, and of economic regeneration in general.

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 However, with the declaration of the World War II in September 1939 and putting
leaders into prison, the NPC could not march ahead.
● 1944: The Bombay Plan, the People’s Plan and the Gandhian Plan: One of the
most widely discussed plan during the 1940s was the Bombay Plan prepared by
the Indian capitalists. It was a plan for economic development under considerable
amount of government intervention. It emphasised the industrial sector with an
aim of trebling national income and doubling of per capita income within a 15-
year period. Under this plan, planning and industrialisation were synonymous. An
alternative to the Bombay Plan was given by M. N. Roy in 1944. His plan came to
be known as People’s Plan. His idea of planning was borrowed from the Soviet
type plan ning. In this plan, priorities were given to agriculture and small scale
industries. This plan favoured a socialist organisation of society. In the light of the
basic principles of Gandhian economics, S. N. Agarwal authored ‘The Gandhian
Plan’ in 1944 in which he put emphasis on the expansion of small unit production
and agriculture. Its fundamental feature was decentralisation of economic
structure with self-contained villages and cottage industries.
● 1950 Planning Commission: After independence, the Planning Commission was
set up by the Government of India in March 1950. The Commission was
instructed to (a) make an assessment of the material capital and human resources
of the country, and formulate a plan for the most effective and balanced utilisation
of them; (b) determine priorities, define the stages for carrying the plan and
propose the allocation of resources for the due completion of each stage; (c)
identify the factors which tend to retard economic development; and (d) determine
the conditions which (in view of the then current socio-political conditions)
should be established for the execution of the plan. The planning process was
initiated in April 1951 when the First Five Year Plan was launched. Since then ten
five year plans have been completed and the Eleventh Plan is in progress.

Composition

1. Prime minister of India (Chairman of the commission) - He presides over the

meetings of the commission.
2. Deputy chairman (de facto executive head (i.e., full-time functional head)-
(i) responsible for the formulation and submission of the draft Five-Year Plan to the
Union Cabinet;
(ii) appointed by the Central cabinet for a fixed tenure;
(iii) enjoys the rank of a Cabinet Minister;
(iv) not a member of cabinet but is invited to attend all its meeting (without a right to
vote);
3. Some Central Ministers -
(i) appointed as part-time members;
(ii) finance minister and planning minister are the ex-officio members.
4. 4 to 7 full-time expert members enjoying rank of a minister of state.

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 5. A member-secretary senior member of IAS.

Functions of the Planning Commission India

1. To make an assessment of the resources of the country and to see which resources
are deficient.
2. To formulate plans for the most effective and balanced utilization of country's
resources.
3. To indicate the factors which are hampering economic development.
4. To determine the machinery, that would be necessary for the successful
implementation of each stage of plan.
5. Periodical assessment of the progress of the plan.
6. With the changing times, the Planning commission is preparing itself for long
term vision for the future. The commission is seeing to maximize the output with
minimum resources.
7. From being a centralized planning system, the Indian economy is slowly
progressing towards indicative planning wherein the Planning Commission has set
the goal of constructing a long term strategic vision for the future.
8. It sets sectoral targets and provides the catalyst to the economy to grow in the
right direction.
9. The Planning Commission plays an integrative role in the development of a
holistic approach to the formulation of policies in critical areas of human and
economic development.

Objectives of Indian Plans:

In India, the paramount objective of an economic plan is to bring into new forms of
productive capital, which will raise the overall productivity of the economy and, thus,
raise people’s income by providing them ad equate employment opportunities and,
thereby, remove the twin problems of destitution and mass poverty.

In an underdeveloped country like India, these objectives may be broadly grouped under:
1. A higher rate of growth than was being realized in the absence of the plan;
2. A greater degree of economic equality than was possible under free enterprise;
3. Full employment opportunities for the growing labour force of the country;
4. Economic self-reliance; and
5. Modernisation.
It is to be remembered that the above said objectives are long term objectives of India’s
Five Year Plans.

Now these objectives will be explained:

● Economic Growth:

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Of all the objectives, the objective of economic growth has received the strongest priority
in all the plans. Economic planning in India aims at bringing about a rapid economic
development in all sectors. The key sectors are agriculture, power, industry and transport.
Through development of the economy, the country aims at increasing national and per
capita incomes. Thus, poverty will be removed and the standard of living will be
improved. National income in the First Plan increased by 18 p.c. against the targeted
growth rate of 11 p.c.
National income during the Second Plan period increased by 20 p.c. against the target of
21 p.c. On the other hand, per capita income grew at a rate of 2.1 p.c. per annum as
against the contemplated rate of growth of 3.3 p.c. The Third Plan sought to increase
national income by 5.6 p.c. per annum. But the progress card of the Third Plan showed
that national income increased by only 2.5 p.c. per annum. Per capita income during this
time failed to rise.
The Fourth Plan aimed at achieving the growth rate of national income and per capita
income by 5.7 p.c. per annum and 3 p.c. per annum, respectively. In reality, the actual
achievement of national income was merely 3.4 p.c., while per capita income rose by only
1.1. p.c. The Fifth Plan proposed a growth rate of 3.5 p.c. per annum, but later revised it
to 4.37 p.c.
However, the economy now fared well and attained a growth rate of 5.2 p.c. per annum.
The Sixth Plan aimed at an annual growth rate of 5.2 p.c. Actually, this growth rate was
achieved. The Seventh Plan (1985-90) achieved an annual growth rate of 6 p.c. The
average growth rate during the Eighth Plan was better (6.8 p.c.) than the Seventh Plan.
This growth rate slipped down to 5.4 p.c. in the Ninth Plan against a contemplated growth
rate of 6.5 p.c. An ambitious target of 8 p.c. GDP growth rate has been achieved in the
Tenth Five Year Plan.
● Economic Equality and Social Justice:
The twin aspects of social justice involves, on the one hand, the reduction in economic
inequalities and, on the other, the reduction of poverty.
A rise in national income with concentration of economic power in the hands of a few
people is not desirable. In India’s socio-political set-up, vast inequalities exist. Indian
plans aim at reducing such inequalities, so that the benefits of economic development
percolate down to the lower strata of the society.
The objective of removal of poverty got its clear-cut enunciation only in the Fifth Plan for
the first time. Due to the defective planning approach, income inequality widened and
poverty became rampant. The incidence of poverty was on the rise.
In view of this paradoxical development, the slogan of ‘Garibi Hatao’ was raised in the
Fifth Plan for the first time. It was estimated that approximately 30 percent of the total
population was below the poverty line in 1974. In 1983-84, 44.5 p.c. of the total
population were below the poverty line. By 1993-94, it declined to 37.3 p.c. It has been
estimated that 28.3 p.c. of the population lived below the poverty line during 2004- 05—
so far the latest estimate.
Though the poverty ratio declined over time, the number of poor people remained at more
than 260 million during 1999-2000 due to a countervailing growth in population.
● Full Employment:

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Removal of unemployment is considered another important objective of India’s Five Year
Plans. But, unfortunately, it never received the priority it deserved. In the Sixth Plan
(1978-83) of the Janata Government, employment was accorded a pride of place for the
first time. How ever, the Seventh Plan treated employment as a direct focal point of
policy. As a result, the employment generation programme in India received a rude shock
and the problem of unemployment is mounting up plan after plan.
● Economic Self-Reliance:
Self-reliance, or for that matter, self-sufficiency, refers to the elimination of external
assistance. In other words, it means zero foreign aid. India is typically a dependent
economy. She is used to import huge food grains, fertilizers, raw materials and industrial
machinery and equipments. But this objective could not be concertised before the
launching of the Fourth Plan.
The basic aim of the Fifth Plan was the attainment of self-reliance. To achieve this goal,
the Fifth Plan aimed at increasing production of food grains, necessary consumption
goods and raw materials and the level of exports. While emphasising the increase in
exports, the Plan emphasised the need for establishing import substitute industries as an
important facet of economic self-reliance.
In the new era dating from July 1991, the objective of self-reliance lost its the then
interpretation. No longer it refers to self-sufficiency in the present globalised
environment. Still then, it is an important component of India’s development policy.
● Modernisation:
This objective is comparatively a newer one. This objective was categorically mentioned
for the first time in the Sixth Plan. Modernisation means such variety of structural and
institutional changes in the economic activities that can change the feudal and colonial
economy into a progressive and modern economy.
The important component of modernisation is the development of a diversified economy
that produces a variety of goods. This requires the setting up of a variety of industries. It
also refers to an advancement of technology. No doubt certain technological advances
have taken place in agriculture, energy, etc. But there is a real danger of this objective in
the present context.
The country now faces an alarmingly high unemployment problem and, hence, poverty.
But modernisation will definitely arrest the employment generation activities. Hence the
conflict between the objective of modernisation and the objectives of unemployment and
poverty eradication.
Besides these long term objectives, each Five Year Plan in India has some short term
objectives. For instance, the First Plan stressed agricultural development, control of
inflation and rehabilitation of refugees. The Second Plan aimed at rapid industrial growth,
specially basic and heavy industries. The Third Plan emphasised an expansion of basic
industries, but shifted to defence development.

Evaluation of Objectives:
The objectives of Indian planning are quite comprehensive and its scope is wide. But it
has various shortcomings:

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 i. Indian Plans are ambitious. Most of the plan objectives remain unfulfilled. Again,
some of the objectives are not quantifiable, Furthermore, desired objectives never
match with the actual results. Actual results lay behind targets.
i. Indian plans suffer from inconsistency of the objectives that are set. For instance,
the objective of accumulation of capital is inconsistent with the objective of
reduction of income disparities.
i. There are conflicts between objectives. Higher economic growth objective may
not commensurate with the employment generation objective. Rapid economic
growth requires the use of capital-intensive technology which is, by nature,
labour-displacing. Thus, any attempt to improve GDP growth rate is most likely to
frustrate the objective of removal of unemployment.
Despite these shortcomings of Indian planning, we must say that the objective of higher
economic growth is the most fundamental of all. Plan objectives must be spelt out as to
make them consistent with the country’s needs.

THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF

INDIA(NITI)-AYOG WITH EMPHASIS UPON DIGITALISATION
Let me begin this critical essay upon economic planning, by stating that as a student of
economics who has studied the said subject for more than a year, that economic planning has
taken new forms, dimensions and contours in the ever-changing world of economic
dynamism. I’m given to understand that economic planning. It is a well-accepted fact of
economic studies that earlier economists hardly paid attention or rather laid emphasis upon
the importance and the imperativeness of natural resources in any economy, however, since
they’re not in plentiful abundance, it does become important, i.e., in my opinion that there
must be a responsible and integrated central mechanism which is to say a planning authority
which is tasked with the responsibility of allocating available human, capital and physical
resources in order to ensure that equal opportunities don’t stay confined to mere drawing
room talk and parliamentarian debates, but rather, it should and evidently ought to i.e., from
the perspective of welfare economics which I certainly believe is directly related and co-
related to economic planning , translate itself into a palpable reality by and through the aid of
which, a human being may realise his fullest capital potential in a competitive economy,
which otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to achieve let alone fulfil in the absence of pro-bono
economic planning. In the words of Prof H.D. Dickenson, “Economic planning is the making
of major economic decisions-i.e.- what and how much is to be produced and to whom it’s to
be allocated to on the basis of a comprehensive survey which shall be accordingly executed
by a conscious planning authority.’’

Thus, the very definition of economic planning has been adduced and accordingly explained,
albeit in a quasi-nuanced manner. The purpose of my project is to elucidate upon the very
purpose, the objectives as well as a special emphasis of digitalisation which is being greatly
forwarded and expounded upon by the NITI-AYOG, especially after the smartphone and the
internet revolution which has off-recently overwhelmed India , and which is being
supportively encouraged by the administration of P.M. Narendra Modi. However, I’d like to

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give a brief introduction to the idea of economic planning which I shall do so in the next
paragraph.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica,“it’s the process by which decisions are made and
influenced by a central government, which is directly as opposed to the principle of laissez-
faire economics, the latter which attempts to eschew any attempt to guide the economy,
which instead relies upon market forces to determine the speed, direction and nature of
economic development.’’ In furtherance of this argument, it must also be noted from the
perspective and point of view of Marxist economic jurisprudence that the idea of central
economic planning was the result of a thesis which attempted to disavow and criticise
capitalism as a system based upon the very foundations of debauchery and greed;
furthermore, after the Russian Revolution of 1917 which resulted in the creation of the
USSR, the idea of proletariat based welfare schemes guided by humane egalitarian values
now seemed a viable and even health moralistic view vis-à-vis capitalist market conspiracies
or rather, to be more correct and objective, domination. It also, I solemnly believe that it
raised the hopes of the creation of egalitarian based economic action; by, for and on behalf of
the marginalised people, who now, under the benefits and aegis of economic development
had a chance to truly develop upon their human capital sans any bourgeois interference and
threats to their market monopolies. As the noted Soviet leader N.I. Bukharin wrote, “as soon
as we deal with an organised economy, all problems related to ‘political’ economy such as
prices, values and profits will simply disappear… for here the economy is not being regulated
by the blind forces of the market, but by a consciously implemented plan.’’

Now, I will focus the energies of my effort upon writing upon the objectives, and its
emerging role in making India an economically progressive and emerging nation especially
with emphasis upon digitalisation, for it’s due to the latter that access to information and
broad horizons related to the development of human capital can be surely capitalised upon.
The details of the aforementioned features will be given as follows and accordingly:

Overview of NITI AYOG

The National Institute for the Transformation of India(NITI)-AYOG, commonly abbreviated
as NITI-AYOG, is an Indian government think tank situated on No. 5 Parliament Street, New
Delhi which was established during the political administration of P.M. Narendra Modi, to
replace the old and out-dated Nehruvian era Planning Commission. As a matter of principle,
the NITI-AYOG was formed to establish the involvement and the participation of Indian
State governments vis-à-vis economic policy making and formulation. It is indeed a matter of
economic history that the Central government in Delhi laid the foundation stone of this
organisation, on 01st January 2015 and its first official meeting was chaired on 08th of
February 2015. However, the narrative behind its inception must be lucidly explained. It was
upon the 29th of May 2014, a panel of expert evaluation officers submitted an independent
assessment report to the BJP government, with a recommendation to replace/ change the out-
dated Planning Commission with a control commission, then on 13th of August 2014, the
Union Cabinet passed a resolution to prorogue the Planning Commission,with a diluted

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version of the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC) of the People’s
Republic of China. Then, on 01st January 2015, the said cabinet resolution came into effect
thereby changing and turning the page of India’s economic history; in fact, the Finance
Minister Mr. Arun Jaitley quoted, ‘‘ the 65 year old Planning Commission had become a
redundant organisation; it was useful at a time when there was a command economy in
existence, but since India has a diverse economy with different and varied diversified
channels of economic growth, it holds no water any longer.’’ To better understand its
composition, the following details are an integral part and parcel of public information and
data, which are enlisted as follows:

Composition of NITI AYOG

1. The P.M. of India is the chairman of the said think tank.

2. A Governing Council composed of all States and UT’s along with their CM’s,
legislators and Lt.Governors’.
3. A Regional Council in every State, which is composed of CM’s and legislators who
address specific issues and contingencies related to the State.
4. A full-time organisational framework composed of a Vice Chairman; 3 full-time
members; 2 part time members from leading Indian universities; and 4 ex-officio
members of the Union Council of Ministers as well as a CEO.
5. Various experts and specialists from different fields.
Objective of NITI AYOG
1. It’s essentially an advisory body which seeks to provide critical directional and
strategic inputs across the spectrum of key elements of policy, to both the Central and
State governments.
2. It seeks to put an end to slow and tardy implementation of policies, by fostering inter-
State; Centre-State and inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination.
3. It seeks to develop cooperative federalism by following the motto of, “strong states
make a strong nation.”
4. It endeavours to ensure that India will be an active player in debates and discussions
with respect to global commons.
5. It endeavours to ensure that an active and flourishing middle class will participate in
its engagements and activities.
6. It endeavours to ensure that technological up-gradation, innovation and capacity-
building are expedited upon.

Digitalisation undertaken by the NITI AYOG

Thus, after having elucidated upon the overview, the composition, the objectives of the NITI-
AYOG, I would now like to explain the very essence of digitalisation and its impactful
impact of the said organisation because P.M. Modi’s imperative is to focus upon
emancipation through digitalisation. The latter is, without doubt, a useful modus-operandi as

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a tool of social change which can evidently facilitate economic planning, in an organised
economy. Some useful pointers which allude to the pertinent point of economic development
have been explained through a number of newspapers, which has been accordingly explained:

The NITI Aayog and ABB India signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) today to support the
Indian government realize its ambitious vision of ‘Make in India’ through advanced
manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial
intelligence. The agreement was signed in the presence of Mr Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI
Aayog and Dr Ulrich Spiesshofer, CEO, ABB by Ms Anna Roy, Adviser (Industry), NITI
Aayog and Mr Sanjeev Sharma, MD, ABB India. NITI Aayog will work with ABB across
various sectors of the economy, such as the power and water utilities, industries like food as
well as the heavy industries and the transport (rail and metro) and infrastructure to suggest
solutions for digitalization, incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) technologies. The initiative also covers the fast growing segment of electric
mobility.

Jointly, NITI AYOG and ABB will work with government ministries, solicit feedback for
areas critical to them and discuss solutions using industrial automation, and digitalization
technologies.

“We are looking forward to learning more about practical applications of future technologies
such as AI and IoT, especially in streamlining governance and economic systems. Through
this collaboration, which will include cross-sectoral understanding of digitalization at ABB’s
world class centres, will be key in driving progress of key sectors in India. This collaboration
is meant to lead to actionable insights and focused plans that will help India become a centre
for advanced manufacturing,” quoted Mr Amitabh Kant.

Through this SoI, NITI AYOG will facilitate participation of policymakers and government
functionaries in workshops and training programs organized by ABB India. Such programs
will feature subject matter experts and will aim to sensitize policymakers and officials about
relevant AI capabilities, and explore ways they can be used for revolutionizing manufacturing
productivity. The first workshop for senior government officials, under this collaboration,
would be organised in June, 2018 at ABB Ability Innovation Centre in Bengaluru. Given the
importance of the food processing sector, the workshop will focus on digital and automation
technologies in this sector. Senior officials from the Central, State Governments and
autonomous bodies will be nominated for this workshop. Similar workshops will be
organised for other sectors such as power, urban development and transport in the future.

NITI AYOG and all stakeholders will be exposed to hands-on experience of ABB Ability, the
company’s comprehensive digital portfolio of solutions that deliver value of industrial
digitalization to utilities, industries and transportation and infrastructure. Based on the
interactions with ABB India, NITI Aayog will also make recommendations to government
ministries for guidelines and policies regarding development and adoption of AI technology

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in sectors such as power & water utilities, manufacturing, e-Mobility and infrastructure, with
industrial automation and digitalization as the backbone.

NITI AYOG, in collaboration with ABB, will come out with a report on policy
recommendations based on the feedback received in the workshops, by December this year.
The workshops and training programs will be held at ABB Ability Innovation Centre (ABB
AIC). As the company’s biggest research and development centre in the world, located in
Bengaluru, it develops technologies in areas such as AI, cyber security, automation
engineering, data analytics, augmented and virtual reality and industrial software.

“We are excited to partner with NITI AYOG and develop ways to for key areas of India’s
economy to benefit from and implement the latest technologies in digitalization, artificial
intelligence, robotics, and industrial automation. We look forward to working with key
stakeholders in the Indian government, and supporting key initiatives of Prime Minister Modi
such as ‘Make in India’,” said Dr Ulrich Spiesshofer.” <1>

A general interpretation of digitalisation in economic planning

Digital is not just about technology implementation. It encompasses the transformation of
business, enterprises and governments using technology, so as to make experiences better,
communication effective and work simpler. Thus far, digital has been characterised by four
aspects—social media, mobility, analytics and cloud— commonly called SMAC, which is
changing the dynamics and the very fabric of what India is, fundamentally.

For the government, the shift to digital has primarily been about transparency and reach—
taking services and resources in the healthcare, education and financial sectors to the rural
population of India. While ambitious, these efforts mark a major paradigm shift in the
planning of governance and service delivery.
The rising levels of digitisation and digital adoption, though noteworthy, are still not
sufficient to bring the bottom layers of the pyramid under the coverage of digital benefits.
This is a global challenge and impacts both developed and developing nations, albeit to
varying degrees, but it has most definitely and positively impacted India, be what one may
say, opine or think. Economic (extreme poverty) and social (high degree of illiteracy) factors
are often universal, while India has some unique challenges of its own, accentuated by its
vast geography and diversity of language and due to tardy development caused by the
Planning Commission and lax government planning. Digitalisation is

uplifting our country towards advancement and filling gaps owing to physical infrastructure.
With digital, government services are reaching citizens in the remotest of locations. For
instance due to economic digital planning undertaken by the Indian government, farmers are
receiving weather updates on their phones, which are helping them plan their agricultural
activities. Thus, digital and technology play a crucial role in ensuring the efficient translation
of economic planning into an evident and perceivable economic reality, which allows them to
unleash their economic potential in-toto. <2>

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A critical analysis of NITI AYOG
When an economist who is well aware of transient economic vicissitudes taking place in the
country, he would most certainly argue that the pages of economic planning have been indeed
turned and that an objective analysis of the NITI-AYOG requires an understanding of both
sides of the coin, i.e., both positively and negatively in order to arrive at a reasonable and
sensible conclusion with respect to this advanced body of economic development. Human
development is, from a developmental point of view, an integral part of economic planning
and strategizing; in continuation, it does become important to analyse certain various aspects
of digitalisation undertaken by this think-tank .The good part about the NITI-AYOG is that it
is a coordinated body which aims and endeavours to ensure a consolidated and integrated
approach to crystallising economic planning through human development i.e., via net/
aggregate participation with community members as well as integrated and established
government units; secondly, through digitalisation, economic planning does take a diverse
manifestation by which human capital can be tapped into because human patterns can be
easily predicted and understood through internet and digital utilisation ,which are essentially
economic in scope which is to say that, the needs of humans are constantly adapting to new
milieus and which are interdependent upon external stimuli; thirdly, since it’s contingent
upon the syndicalism of cooperation between private and public individuals who are highly
skilled with respect to their capabilities that it is but impossible for such a singularly created
body to immediately forge some sort of middle ground between various conflicting parties in
order to achieve target goals so set out by the government in power; lastly, since it’s based
upon the very principles of welfare enrichment and aggregate benefits , the overall human
development through digital connectivity and pattern analysis can ne evidently obtained
thus..

As opposed to these said points, it must be firstly said that since the NITI-AYOG is the
brainchild of political enterprise, it would be certain that it would favour the development of
certain sectors favoured by the existing political establishment which currently has a mandate
to rule and govern and which also has an exclusive carte-blanche to develop these sectors.
Secondly, it’s over- prioritisation of digitalisation will and most certainly lead to a mass and
large scale violation of data and privacy of internet users; as a matter of principled conjecture,
the government may, on the pretext of furthering human development through digitalisation
may gather information on their citizens and accordingly make them vulnerable to
government sponsored espionage disguised under the garb of economic welfare, for no
authority has a right- even in natural law-to excessively monitor its citizens because the age
of police states are passé and welfare states are in vogue, and this principle must always be
morally enforced . Thirdly, it may be a temporary breeze of relief which is to say, since it was
established by the BJP government, it may be prorogued by a new political order, which
couldn’t care less about economic planning and welfare. Having explained, to the best
possible ability with reference to the subject matter of the NITI-AYOG and its broad
nuances, I sincerely submit my written submissions to the concerned faculty.

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