NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand (SETU Aayog), conducted a one-day regional workshop on the State Support Mission (SSM) in Dehradun on Monday, the think tank said in a release on Tuesday.
This workshop, the first in a planned series under the Central Sector Scheme, was designed to foster structured engagement between NITI Aayog and States/UTs through their respective State Institutions for Transformation (SITs).
The primary objective of the workshop was to bring together representatives from various States and Union Territories to share experiences and best practices related to SSM initiatives and to promote mutual learning.
One of the key sessions of the day focused on the role of SITs in advancing both state and national development goals. The discussion was moderated by Dr. R Meenakshi Sundaram, Principal Secretary of Planning, Uttarakhand. Panelists included S Aparna (CEO, GRIT, Gujarat), Alok Kumar (Principal Secretary, Uttar Pradesh), and Dr Sampath Kumar (Development Commissioner, Meghalaya), who shared insights on SIT structures, core guiding principles, and priority focus areas. They highlighted how SITs can support state-level visions while aligning with broader national priorities to drive socio-economic transformation.
Another significant session, chaired by Praveen Pardeshi—Chief Economic Advisor to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra and CEO of the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA)—encouraged peer learning among States. Senior officers and representatives from SITs and Planning Departments of Punjab, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, and Madhya Pradesh shared updates on their SITs' structures, composition, and focus areas.
The session on data-driven governance drew attention to platforms such as the “NITI for States” portal and the Viksit Bharat Strategy Room at NITI Aayog, which facilitate evidence-based decision-making. Contributions from the Director General of the Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD), Gaya, and a senior officer from the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, highlighted real-world examples of integrating data governance into policymaker training.
The regional workshop also addressed key areas such as climate mitigation, monitoring and evaluation, vision formulation, and capacity building. According to the release, it provided a valuable platform for States and UTs to assess their implementation of SITs, exchange crucial insights, and encourage inter-state collaboration.