NITI Aayog joins hands with research institutions to create 'New India' by 2022

The NITI Aayog building. PTI[/caption]The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) held the first meeting of the National Steering Group and other knowledge partners here on Wednesday, bringing together 32 premier educational and policy research institutions."This is the first-ever initiative to bring a large number of institutions cutting across diverse domain themes to deliberate together on the way forward for inclusive development of the country," NITI Aayog said in a statement.The meeting was aimed at catalysing the development process, and enhancing institutional capacity development and a field-level interface with the community for New India 2022, it added.The meeting witnessed signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) between NITI Aayog and major think-tanks across the country to create a network of evidence-based policy research."This network will enable efficient knowledge sharing and information exchange among all partners to fulfil their role in transformative policy reform so as to achieve a sustainable and more inclusive development in line with the National Development Agenda, Sustainable Development Goals as well as the 15-year vision, 7-year strategy and 3-year action plan," the statement said.Co-chaired by NITI CEO Amitabh Kant and principal adviser Ratan P Watal, the meeting was also attended by representatives of four state governments including Kerala, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.During the meeting, Kant made a presentation on the initiatives taken by NITI and how the participating institutions can collaborate for overall development of the country.Watal emphasised the role that India's premier institutions can play in the country's development through a collaborative approach.