NITI Aayog initiated process for revamping of Centrally Sponsored Schemes

Posted 14 Aug 2024

2 min read

Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of the NITI Aayog initiated the process of conducting evaluations of all the Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSSs) of Government of India.

DMEO, constituted in 2015, is an attached Office of NITI Aayog to fulfill the mandates of monitoring and evaluation assigned to NITI Aayog.
For the purpose of evaluation, CSSs have been categorized into 9 sectors – Agriculture and allied sector, Women and Child Development, Education, etc.

About Centrally Sponsored Schemes

CSSs are schemes funded directly by Centre and implemented by States or their agencies, irrespective of funding pattern, unless they fall under Centre's sphere of responsibility i.e., Union List. (Baijal Committee Report, 1987)
- e.g., Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), etc.
Under CSS, a certain percentage of the funding is borne by the States in the ratio of 50:50, 70:30, 75:25 or 90:10.
Currently, there are 75 CSSs with ~10.4% of Centre’s total budgeted expenditure. (Union Budget 2024-25)

Need to revamp CSSs

Rationalization: Cut down/ merge schemes through impact assessment and setting sunset clauses to stop running them indefinitely.
Concerns raised by States: Lack of flexibility with States in determining funding pattern, overlap with State schemes, delays in fund disbursement from the centre, etc.

Key recommendation by Sub-Group of Chief Ministers on rationalization of CSSs (2015)

Prioritization: Highest priority should be accorded to sectors/ tasks/ objectives like Poverty Elimination and schemes for Social Inclusion.
Categorization: CSSs should be categorized into – Core and Optional Schemes.
Flexibility: 25% allocation in a Scheme should be flexi-fund, to be spent in accordance with Ministry of Finance guidelines.
Monitoring and Evaluation: NITI Aayog to have concurrent jurisdiction in monitoring of Centrally Sponsored Schemes in the States and Central Ministries.