PM Modi chairs NITI Aayog: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the seventh meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog with Chief Ministers and top officials; This is the first in-person meeting since 2019. For the past two years, the major conference of NITI Aayog could not be held in person amid the pandemic.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Chouhan, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and others are present. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also present.
PM Modi chairs NITI Aayog
While Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday claimed discrimination by the Center saying he would not attend the conference, in a statement, the NITI Aayog said it was “unfortunate”.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is also not present in the meeting. The conference is being held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The agenda of the conference will include “crop diversification and oilseeds and pulses and achieving self-sufficiency in agro-communities; National Education Policy-Implementation of Schooling; National Education Policy-Implementation of Higher Education; and Urban Governance,” according to a government statement.
Sunday’s meeting comes months after the National Conference of Chief Secretaries was held in June in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamsala, the culmination of a “six-month-long rigorous exercise by the Center and states”.
The conference was presided over by the Prime Minister and was attended by the Chief Secretaries of all the States and Union Territories as well as senior officials of the Central and State Governments.
NITI Aayog said that with India hosting the G20 Presidency and Summit next year, Sunday’s meeting assumes greater significance.
“The meeting will also emphasize the importance of the presidency for India to the federal system and the role of states in highlighting their progress on the G-20 platform,” it said.
Nitish Kumar Not Attending NITI Aayog Meeting
With “developing a shared vision of national priorities and strategies with the active participation of States and Union Territories”, the NITI Aayog Governing Council is an important forum for deliberations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, which is currently underway at the Cultural Center of Rashtrapati Bhavan in the national capital.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are the two big leaders who are walking out of the meeting.
KCR had earlier written a letter to PM Modi stating that his decision was a symbol of protest against the Centre’s alleged discrimination against states, including Telangana. Nitish Kumar, who has just recovered from COVID-19, is not attending an event led by the PM for the second time in a month.
This meeting is the first in-person meeting of the Governing Council since July 2019. The council, the apex body of the NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories and several union ministers. The Prime Minister is the chairman of NITI Aayog.
The agenda of the NITI Aayog meeting includes crop diversification and oilseeds and pulses and achieving self-sufficiency in agro-communities; Implementation of National Policy on Education-School Education; Implementation of National Policy on Education-Higher Education; and urban governance.
