New Delhi, June 3 : The NITI Aayog on Tuesday organised a day's regional workshop to foster structured engagement with states.

The workshop held under the State Support Mission (SSM) in Dehradun was organised by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the State Institute for Empowering and Transforming Uttarakhand (SETU) Aayog, which is under the Uttarakhand government.

It "is the first in a series under the Central Sector Scheme to foster structured engagement between NITI Aayog and States/UTs through State Institutions for Transformation (SITs)," NITI Aayog said.

The event aimed to bring together States and UTs to share their experience on SSM initiatives and learn from each other.

The inaugural session was attended by Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog; Raj Shekhar Joshi, Vice Chairperson, SETU Aayog; Anand Bardhan, Chief Secretary, Uttarakhand; Shatrughna Singh, CEO, SETU Aayog and senior officers from NITI Aayog. They emphasised the crucial role of SITs in the growth of states and steering the state visions.

The sessions focussed on the role of SITs in achieving state and national goals and the experts shared key insights on the structure of SITs, guiding principles, and priority areas, highlighting their role in supporting State vision and aligning with national priorities to drive socio-economic transformation.

It also featured rich peer-learning with interventions and presentations from senior officers and SIT/planning representatives from Punjab, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh on the status of their SITs, structure and composition, priority areas, etc.

Further, the session on data-driven governance highlighted platforms like the NITI for states portal and Viksit Bharat Strategy Room at NITI Aayog for evidence-based decision-making.

DG, Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD), Gaya, and a senior officer from Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie shared practical examples of integrating data governance into training for policymakers.

The regional workshop also addressed critical priorities like climate mitigation, monitoring and evaluation, state vision formulation, and capacity building, offering States and UTs a platform to reflect on SIT implementation, share key insights, and foster collaboration.

/IANS