The Centre approved a proposal to establish Atal Innovation Mission and Self Employment and Talent Utilisation in NITI Aayog, which will encourage innovations and entrepreneurship.

“The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for establishment of Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Self Employment and Talent Utilisation (SETU) in NITI Aayog with appropriate manpower,” an official release said.

Establishment of AIM and AIM Directorate would result in implementation of Mission activities in a focussed manner, it added.

It said that AIM would be a focal point for innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

It would be guided by a Mission High Level Committee (MHLC) which will take all decisions relating to approval of requisite guidelines including Grand Challenge areas, prize money and implementation of various elements of AIM and SETU.

NITI Aayog will hire Mission Director and other appropriate manpower.

The headquarter of the Mission will be New Delhi.

With a view to give substantial boost to the innovation ecosystem and to catalyse the entrepreneurial spirit in the country, Finance Minister in his Budget Speech 2015-16 announced the government’s intention to establish AIM and a mechanism to be known as SETU in NITI with an initial sum of Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore, respectively.

As a follow up of Budget announcement, NITI Aayog constituted an Expert Committee on Innovation and Entrepreneurship under the Chairmanship of Professor Tarun Khanna, Director, South Asia Institute, Harvard University, USA to work out detailed contours of AIM and SETU.

The Committee in its report made wide ranging recommendations for the short-term (where action can be taken relatively quickly to deliver almost immediate payoffs), medium-term (that can be addressed within a 5-7 years time frame) and long-term, which are likely to have long gestation period, but will lead to a profound transformation in the entrepreneurial fabric of the country.

The Committee also emphasized the need to establish clear systems to monitor implementation, execution, and impact.

The AIM and SETU are being initiated as a follow up of Union Budget 2015-16 announcements.

The proposal was considered by Expenditure Finance Committee on August 28, 2015, and it was observed that AIM is a Mission and SETU is an approach.

Therefore, there should be one umbrella scheme titled as ‘AIM’ which will have two sub-components – firstly Innovation and secondly SETU, wherein the innovators would be supported and mentored as successful entrepreneurs.

Source: The Economic Times

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