The NITI Aayog held the first meeting of the National Steering Group and other knowledge partners in New Delhi today. <br/><br/>The meeting aimed at bringing together 32 premier educational and policy research institutions to catalyse the development process to enhance institutional capacity development and a field level interface with the community for New India 2022. <br/><br/>The meeting was held under the co-chairmanship of Amitabh Kant, CEO and Ratan Watal, Principal Adviser, NITI Aayog. <br/><br/>An official release said, Mr Watal said that India's premier institutions can play in country's development through a collaborative approach. <br/><br/>He said, this is the first ever initiative taken in the country to bring the large number of institutions cutting across diverse domain themes to deliberate together on the way forward for inclusive development of the country. <br/><br/>The meeting witnessed signing of MoUs between NITI Aayog and major think tanks across the country to create an ecosphere of evidence based policy research. <br/><br/>This network will enable efficient knowledge sharing and information exchange among all partners to fulfil their role in transformative policy reform to achieve a sustainable and more inclusive development. <br/><br/>The meeting was attended by representatives of four State – Kerala, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.