Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed to the states to take “financially prudent decisions” during the central-state leaders meet in New Delhi on May 27 for the eighth successive meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.
“PM @narendramodi urged States to take financially prudent decisions so as to become fiscally strong and capable of delivering programmes that meet the dreams of citizens,” the NITI Aayog mentioned in a tweet.BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, responded that the Prime Minister “hinted” at giveaways and the Old Pension Scheme which had come up in light of elections in numerous states.”
The PM gave an over-arching view – he didn’t discuss a particular item, but he hinted at it. He basically said fiscal prudence is essential because you do not want to over-burden future generations… So keep that in mind in whatever you do,” Subrahmanyam mentioned in a press statement post the meeting.
The latest meeting was skipped by 11 chief ministers for specific reasons.
For instance, Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi Party missed the meeting in opposition to the Centre’s decision to approve an ordinance that invalidates the Supreme Court’s rule on control over services in the Capital.
“People are very angry with your ordinance. It will not be possible for me to attend the NITI Aayog meeting tomorrow,” Kejriwal made a tweet on May 26.
Others who weren’t a part of the meeting were Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who appealed a change in time to align with the function commemorating the death anniversary of erstwhile PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
“They (the Centre), however, did not agree to change the timing of the NITI Aayog meeting. Had they even agreed to hold the meeting in the afternoon, I would have been able to attend. We sent a few other names, who could represent the state, which too was turned down. So, Bihar remained unrepresented,” Kumar added.
The core agenda is to:
Focus on developing India by 2047
Thrust on micro, small and medium enterprises
Infrastructure and plausible investments
Reducing compliances
Strengthening women
Focus on health and nutrition
Skill development
GatiShakti for area-based development and social infrastructure
“We will be creating NITI-type institutions… Our goal is all the 35 states and Union Territories in the country should have a NITI-type institution,” Subrahmanyam concluded.
