NITI to seek allocation for reform incentives in states

NITI Aayog plans to seek some allocation in the 2016-17 Union Budget for incentivising reforms in states and for backward regions.

Officials said as part of its outreach to states, the Aayog plans to try and get the former to align their schemes, programmes and objectives with the 14th Finance Commission recommendations and with the Shivraj Singh Chouhan panel recommendations on restructuring of centrally sponsored schemes (CSS).  

A meeting in this regard was held in the Aayog on Wednesday, attended by secretaries of major ministries and departments. Officials said the Aayog plans to work with state governments to improve their budgetary process and rationalising of schemes in line with the Shivraj recommendations.

The latter have been accepted by the government. It had favoured lowering the number of CSS to 30 from the current 72, in three major categories — core, core-of-core and optional schemes.

In the first category, central to state funding for general category states would be 60:40, in core of core, 100 per cent, and for optional schemes, 50:50. NITI Aayog would monitor implementation of all central schemes.