Narendra Modi it had over the appointment of judges, and reducing that of the judiciary. On 31 December 2014, Modi announced that the Planning Commission had been scrapped. It was replaced with a body called the National Institution for Transforming India, or NITI Aayog. The Planning Commission was a legacy of the Indian Independence movement, although critics said that it was slowing economic growth. The move had the effect of greatly centralising the power previously with the planning commission in the person of the prime minister. It also reduced the extent of control individual states had over their financial allocation from the
Narendra Modi 2000 crore for a government-funded health insurance program, and a decrease in the budget of the National Health Mission. Modi initially appointed Harsh Vardhan, a doctor and an advocate of tobacco control, as minister of health. However, Vardhan was replaced in November 2014 by Jagat Prakash Nadda. The government introduced stricter packaging laws for tobacco which requires 85% of the packet size to be covered by pictorial warnings. An article in the medical journal "Lancet" stated that the country "might have taken a few steps back in public health" under Modi. A new National Health Policy was approved in 2017.