In August, 2023, the Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised 183 provisions of 42 central acts administered by 19 ministries and departments.
The Union IT, Communications, and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Thursday stressed on the need to further simplify economic laws in a modern and relevant way at the launch of NITI Aayog’s ‘NITI for States’ platform. It is an integrated platform hosting numerous documents and datasets required for the government’s Viksit Bharat action plan.
During his keynote address, Vaishnaw outlined four pillars of the government’s approach towards policymaking, namely – physical, social, and digital infrastructure, inclusive growth, boosting manufacturing, and simplification. Expanding on the fourth pillar of simplification, Vaishnaw said that over 1,500 “archaic laws” have been addressed by the government, like the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 which was recently replaced by the Telecommunications Act, 2023. “Now, with the same comprehensiveness, we need to further simplify economic laws in a modern and relevant way based on our growth requirements,” he added.
Vaishnaw also underscored the role of NITI Aayog in the process of simplification. “NITI has the flexibility of a think tank to onboard 2,000 good lawyers and give each of them one law to explore how it can be simplified. According to a study, there are around 35,000 such laws which require simplification. If we address all those laws, in the next five years we can create a legal framework to reach the goal of Viksit Bharat,” he explained.
n August, 2023, the Parliament passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised 183 provisions of 42 central acts administered by 19 ministries and departments.
The NITI for States platform is a multi-sectoral live repository of over 7,400 best practices, 5,000 policy documents, 900 datasets, and 1,400 data profiles. The documents and datasets are available across ten sectors including agriculture, education, energy, health, livelihoods and skilling, manufacturing, MSME, urbanisation, and water resources.
The platform was launched in the presence of NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam and other members of the apex public policy think tank.
“We are embarking on a new journey. The destination is known. The path is not known, but I think this is one way. These are all guideposts. I’m sure if we work hard, we will fulfil the vision of our Prime Minister to be a Viksit Bharat,” CEO Subrahmanyam said at the launch.
