Ya. O. SADOVNIKOVA Graduate student Primakov Institute of International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences Key words: India, Narendra Modi, Planning Commission, planning process, center - states relationship, NITI Aayog The idea of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to abolish the Planning Commission, which was announced in an official speech at the Independence Day celebration ceremony on August 15, 2014, did not come out of the blue. Questions about the effectiveness and methods of improving its performance have been discussed for a long time. Back in the late 1980s, a commission specially set up by the Government to analyze the center - states relationship made a number of important recommendations to eliminate shortcomings in the work of the Planning Commission and improve the planning mechanism as a whole. Arguments that the Planning Commission is an outdated body and requires major changes remained at the level of discussions in 1998-2004, during the government of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition led by the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), then Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee. Modi's speech renewed interest in this topic. At the national level, questions were raised about the historical role and place of the Planning Commission in the development of the state, the need to strengthen interaction between the Center and the states in formulating a national development strategy, and what the creation of a new body to replace the Planning Commission should bring to the planning process. During the 64 years of its existence, the Planning Commission has repeatedly proved its necessity, but at the same time managed to accumulate a number of significant errors that have not been overcome until now. FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION TO NITI AAYOG The Planning Commission was established by a special government decree in March 1950. It should be noted that the work on the establishment of the planning institute began in the 1930s.The most intensive perio ... Read more