NITI Aayog Hosts First Regional Workshop on State Support Mission in Dehradun

In a significant move to promote structured and collaborative federal governance, NITI Aayog, in partnership with the State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand (SETU) Aayog, organized the first Regional Workshop under the State Support Mission (SSM) in Dehradun on June 2, 2025. The event brought together key stakeholders from multiple states and union territories to strengthen intergovernmental collaboration through State Institutions for Transformation (SITs).

The workshop, held as part of a series under a Central Sector Scheme, aims to enhance engagement between NITI Aayog and States/UTs through SITs—bodies modeled to facilitate policy innovation, adaptive governance, and capacity building at the sub-national level.

Strengthening the Vision of Cooperative Federalism

The inaugural session was graced by Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, who emphasized the critical role of SITs in aligning state-specific developmental goals with national aspirations such as Viksit Bharat @ 2047. He reiterated the importance of localized governance reforms and innovation to address emerging challenges across sectors.

Shri Raj Shekhar Joshi, Vice Chairperson of SETU Aayog, and Shri Anand Bardhan, Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, echoed this sentiment, describing the SSM workshop as a catalyst for enhancing policy coherence and outcome-oriented planning. Shri Shatrughna Singh, CEO of SETU Aayog, highlighted how such initiatives are central to fostering a decentralized, bottom-up development model.

Senior officials from over a dozen States and UTs—including Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, and Uttarakhand—actively participated in the day-long deliberations.

Session I: State Institutions for Transformation – Foundations of Growth

The first technical session was moderated by Dr. R. Meenakshi Sundaram, Principal Secretary of Planning, Uttarakhand. This panel delved into the evolving role of SITs as strategic entities embedded in the state administrative architecture.

Panelists included:

• Ms. S. Aparna, CEO, Gujarat Rajya Institution for Transformation (GRIT)

• Shri Alok Kumar, Principal Secretary, Uttar Pradesh

• Dr. Sampath Kumar, Development Commissioner, Meghalaya

They shared best practices and frameworks used to design their SITs, covering aspects such as:

• Institutional structure and legal foundation

• Governance and staffing models

• Priority areas for state transformation (climate action, infrastructure, innovation)

• Linkages with national development priorities and SDG targets

Dr. Kumar highlighted Meghalaya’s focus on tribal livelihoods, climate resilience, and participatory planning, while Ms. Aparna explained how GRIT leverages sectoral expertise and data systems to drive transformation in Gujarat.

Session II: Peer Learning and State Presentations

The second session was chaired by Shri Praveen Pardeshi, Chief Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and CEO of MITRA (Maharashtra Institution for Transformation).

This session enabled an open exchange of ideas among state-level planning bodies, with presentations from senior officials from:

• Punjab, discussing their climate action integration strategy

• Delhi, emphasizing cross-departmental project planning

• Jammu & Kashmir, on institutionalizing planning through convergence

• Haryana and Madhya Pradesh, sharing strategies on financial planning and real-time monitoring

• Uttarakhand, elaborating on citizen-centric governance

• Chandigarh, focusing on municipal-level transformation

This session highlighted diverse governance models tailored to each state’s unique challenges and opportunities.

Data-Driven Governance: The Backbone of Modern Policy

One of the key focus areas of the workshop was the role of data-driven governance. Officials discussed digital tools like the NITI for States Portal and the Viksit Bharat Strategy Room, designed to aid real-time policy planning, performance benchmarking, and evidence-based decision-making.

Representatives from:

• Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD), Gaya

• Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie

—shared how data analytics and visualization are being incorporated into civil servant training, enabling policymakers to better interpret and apply real-time data for problem-solving.

A Platform for Policy Innovation and Collaboration

Participants explored themes central to India’s long-term developmental strategy, including:

• Climate mitigation and green governance

• Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) frameworks

• Vision documents aligned with SDGs and national priorities

• Public administration capacity building and knowledge exchange

By providing a shared platform for states to compare notes, discuss institutional mechanisms, and reflect on on-ground realities, the SSM workshop created a blueprint for collaborative problem-solving across India’s federal structure.

Looking Ahead: Institutionalizing Transformation

NITI Aayog’s plan to hold similar workshops across other regions in the coming months will further empower SITs as institutional change agents. These workshops are expected to:

• Drive localized SDG acceleration

• Enhance public policy innovation capacity

• Strengthen inter-state and Centre-state cooperation

• Promote responsive and citizen-focused governance

With institutions like SETU Aayog, GRIT, MITRA, and others leading the way, the rise of SITs represents a strategic pivot in India’s governance model—from program-centric administration to evidence-led, outcome-focused, and future-ready policymaking.