Q.Distinguish between the Planning Commission and NITI Aayog (any three points).

Both were set up by a Cabinet resolution, but they differ sharply in the power they hold and the process by which they involve the states.

Planning Commission vs. NITI Aayog:

1. Power over funds — The Planning Commission directly allocated Plan funds to the states, giving it real financial power; NITI Aayog has no fund-allocation power at all — resource transfer to states now follows the Finance Commission's recommendations and the normal budgetary process.
2. Approach — The Planning Commission followed a largely top-down approach, setting broadly uniform targets centrally for states to implement; NITI Aayog follows a bottom-up, "Team India" approach, in which states help shape the national agenda rather than simply receive it.
3. Structural role of the states — The Planning Commission had no standing structural body giving states a seat inside it; NITI Aayog's Governing Council includes the Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories with a legislature, and the Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories without one, giving states a direct, structured voice. …