Govt may rationalise 120 autonomous bodies

A DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE REPORT SAID GOVT MUST SHUT SEVEN SUCH BODIES

NEW DELHI: The Centre is considering rationalizing over 120 autonomous bodies under 23 central government ministries and departments after the department of expenditure submitted a review report on 231 such entities, officials aware of the development said, requesting anonymity.

In a slew of recommendations to the cabinet secretariat, a copy of which was reviewed by Hindustan Times, the department said 83 out of the 231 autonomous bodies should be retained, while 117 must be merged into just 29. It said the Centre must disengage from 20 entities, and seven autonomous bodies be closed.

The purpose of the exercise is “to make specific and actionable recommendations for rationalization of autonomous bodies in the ministries or departments, with a view to furthering the aim of minimum government, maximum governance, and economical, efficient use of public funds,” the department said.

In the 2016 budget speech, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the formation of a task force to rationalize human resources across ministries. He had also contemplated a comprehensive review and rationalization of autonomous bodies.

In 2017, following the recommendation by the Expenditure Management Commission (EMC) in its report submitted to the Centre, the finance ministry requested NITI Aayog to undertake an in-depth review of the autonomous bodies of Union government.

The policy think tank had constituted a committee in January 2017 under the chairmanship of the principal adviser, NITI Aayog, to review the entithe ties and make recommendations for enhancing their functioning.

In its draft interim report, the committee recommended setting up umbrella structures of autonomous bodies wherein a group of similar institutions may be brought together under an overarching framework. The objective was to bring greater efficiency, oversight, standardization and mentoring support, without losing the plurality of disciplines or identities of individual bodies, it said.

In 2018, the cabinet chaired by PM Narendra Modi had approved the proposal for closure of two autonomous bodies—Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi and Jansankhya Sthirata Kosh.