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Question 1 of 15 · Constitutional & Statutory Bodies
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The Planning Commission was replaced by:

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Answer: Option D — NITI Aayog

Detailed Solution

NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) was set up by a resolution of the Union Cabinet on 1 January 2015, replacing the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission had been set up on 15 March 1950, also by a Cabinet resolution, and had made India's Five-Year Plans for more than six decades. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced its replacement in his Independence Day speech in 2014.

Neither the Planning Commission nor NITI Aayog is mentioned in the Constitution, and neither was created by an Act of Parliament. So both are non-constitutional and non-statutory bodies, also called extra-constitutional or executive bodies.

NITI Aayog differs from the Planning Commission in its approach:

  • It is a policy "think tank" that gives strategic and technical advice to the Centre and states, rather than making top-down Five-Year Plans.
  • It follows "cooperative federalism", involving states more closely in policy-making, and "competitive federalism", ranking states on indicators such as health, education and the SDGs.
  • It does not have the power to allocate funds to states or ministries, which the Planning Commission had; this role moved to the Ministry of Finance.

Composition of NITI Aayog:

  • Chairperson: the Prime Minister.
  • Governing Council: all Chief Ministers of states, Chief Ministers of UTs with legislatures, and Lieutenant Governors of other UTs.
  • A Vice-Chairperson appointed by the Prime Minister (the first was Arvind Panagariya), full-time members, part-time members, ex officio Union ministers and a CEO.
  • The last Five-Year Plan, the Twelfth (2012-17), ended in March 2017.

Why not the other options?

  • ✗The National Development Council (1952) approved Five-Year Plans; it has been largely replaced by the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.
  • ✗The Finance Commission is a constitutional body under Article 280.
  • ✗The Inter-State Council (1990) is set up under Article 263.

Quick tip

Remember: NITI Aayog = 1 January 2015, replaced the Planning Commission (1950); chaired by the PM; first Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya; non-constitutional, non-statutory.

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Constitutional & Statutory Bodies — Preparation

This question tests your understanding of Constitutional & Statutory Bodies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.

This topic covers bodies set up under the Constitution, such as the Election Commission, UPSC, Finance Commission, Comptroller and Auditor General and the national commissions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and statutory or executive bodies such as NITI Aayog, the NHRC, the CVC, the CBI and Lokpal. Questions often ask whether a body is constitutional or not, which article creates it, who appoints its head and for how long. For example, the CAG is appointed under Article 148, the Finance Commission under Article 280, and NITI Aayog replaced the Planning Commission in 2015 by an executive resolution. Practise the constitutional and statutory bodies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.

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