Why in news?

On the lines of National Institute for Transformation of India (NlTl Aayog), the Karnataka government restructured the Karnataka State Policy and Planning Commission (KSPPC) as the State Institute for Transformation of Karnataka (SITK).

Highlights:

• This is aimed at increasing the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and removing regional imbalances in development indicators.
• ₹150 crore would be allocated annually to SITK for its effective functioning.

Composition:

• The Chief Minister would be the chairman of SITK.
• The deputy chairman of SITK would be nominated by the State government
• Additional Chief Secretary of the Planning Department would be the Chief Executive Officer.
• Experts in education, health, agriculture and industry, rural and urban development, science and technology, skill development and employment, cleanliness and green energy, economy and finance would be appointed as advisors to the SITK
• Ministers holding portfolios of planning, finance, social welfare, education, agriculture, rural development and panchayat raj, IT/BT and urban development would be special invitees of SITK.
• The chief secretary, additional chief secretary and development commissioner, additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries/secretaries, planning, finance, social welfare, education, agriculture, rural development and panchayat raj, IT/BT and urban development departments would be members of SITK.

Development goals

• The other objectives of SITK are attaining sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030 and India@2047 goals and realising the vision of Nava Karnataka and thereby contributing to the New India as envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• On the lines of the NITI Aayog, eight experts would be appointed as advisors in different fields.

Partner institutions

• As many as 14 reputed institutions of the State government and non-state government would be “partner institutions” of SITK.
• They included Karnataka Innovative Authority, Fiscal Policy Institute, Environmental Management and Policy Research Institute, Administrative Training Institute, Abdul Nazir Sab State Institute of Rural Development, State Institute of Urban Development, National Law School University of India, Indian Institute of Science, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Administrative Reforms COmmission- II, Jnana Aayog, Karnataka State Council for Science and Technology, and Indian Institute of Management.
• The Planning Department’s District Planning Division, Technical Division, Karnataka Evaluation Authority (KEA) and Library and Publicity wing would become part of SITK.

KEA to be renamed

• On the lines of Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) of Niti Aayog, the KEA would be renamed as Karnataka Monitoring and Evaluation Authority. Ten technical wings on various subjects would become part of SITK.