Government, CSOs must work together for efficient use of resources: Niti Aayog

NEW DELHI: An effective collaboration between the government and the civil society groups will go a long way in efficient utilisation of national resources, especially in the social sector, according to Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya.

Panagariya was speaking yesterday at an event organised by Niti Aayog where civil society organisations ( CSOs) and key ministries of the union government took part in the deliberations aimed at an effective implementation of government schemes, the Aayog said in a statement.

Over 17 leading CSOs and 15 central ministries were part of the discussions to take forward the social sector initiatives of the government, it said.

The voluntary organisations from all over the country, working across the spectrum of social sector services from education, health, geriatric care, women's empowerment, rural development to handlooms, interacted with senior officials from the Ministry of Rural Development, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, FSSAI, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, among others.

Speaking on the occasion, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said innovative solutions to eliminate poverty, hunger and all other forms of deprivation can emerge through greater coordination between CSOs and the government.

According to the statement, the meeting identified effective ways of strengthening partnership between CSOs and the government at the national, state/district and ground level for improving service delivery of major government schemes.

A range of issues pertaining to social sector service delivery from allocation of funds to monitoring and evaluation processes, including self-regulation of CSOs, were discussed at the round-table, the statement added.

Suggestions were made by leading voluntary organisations including Pratham, Help Age India, Sulabh International, Pradhan, Akshaya Patra and Prayas for developing a sustainable partnership between them and the government.