NITI Aayog shortlists states for transformative changes in Health, edu.

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New Delhi : NITI Aayog has initiated a novel initiative to catalyse transformational change in key social sectors. Under Sustainable Action for Transforming Human Capital (SATH), NITI Aayog and its knowledge partners will provide strategic, technical and implementation support to three states for each sector.

A Committee comprising of Member, NITI Aayog , Bibek Debroy, CEO, Amitabh Kant, Advisers of NITI Aayog and representatives of Health and Education Ministry spent two days assessing and vetting presentations by 14 states for each of the two social sectors. The states showcased the initiatives undertaken by them so far, their willingness to accelerate improvement and justified why they should be selected for the institutional support being offered by NITI Aayog under the programme, according a PIB release.

After final selection of the states, a Program Management Unit to push for efficiency and efficacy in governance structures and service delivery will be available at the state level for a period of 30 months.

In Health sector, five States have been shortlisted as run up to the final selection of three. They are : Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Karnataka and Gujarat. Similarly in Education, the shortlisted states are Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh. In both sectors, the states have to commit to a time-bound focus, governance reforms and delivery of outcomes for final selection for the partnership, according to the PIB release.

The proposed partnership of NITI Aayog, states and a knowledge partner is challenging and ambitious as the baseline of various indicators and parameters of education and health in the states are in public domain. All stakeholders will be under pressure from the day of signing of the MoU to initiate reforms or processes which will show improvement in education and learning outcomes.