NITI Aayog promotes 'competitive federalism' through rankings like the Health Index and SDG Index, which aim to:
- Punish underperforming States by cutting funds
- Encourage States to improve governance through peer comparison and best practices sharing
- Centralize policy-making at Union level
- Eliminate State autonomy in social sectors
Answer: Encourage States to improve governance through peer comparison and best practices sharing
Competitive federalism under NITI Aayog: (a) Mechanism: Publish rankings on health, education, SDGs, ease of doing business, etc., based on objective indicators, (b) Rationale: Peer pressure motivates reforms; States learn from top performers; citizens hold governments accountable using data, (c) Complements cooperative federalism: ISC for dialogue, Finance Commission for resource sharing, GST Council for fiscal coordination, (d) Criticisms: Rankings may oversimplify complex issues; data quality variations; political resistance to 'naming and shaming'. Illustrates evolving federalism: from directive (Planning Commission) to facilitative (NITI Aayog) Centre-State relations.