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New Delhi: The 8th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog is being held on the theme ‘Developed India @ 2047: Role of Team India’ at the new convention center at Pragati Maidan in the capital. PM Modi is presiding over this meeting. However, the Chief Ministers of eight states have not attended this meeting. In this meeting, PM Modi is deliberating on issues related to health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development with the aim of making India a developed nation by 2047.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has cited health reasons for not participating. At the same time, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has not given any specific reason for his absence. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal wrote a letter to the PM on Friday and announced to boycott the meeting on the recent ordinance of the Center.
Bhagwant Mann of Punjab has written a letter to the Center saying that he is not paying attention to the interests of Punjab, so he will boycott the meeting. In the last meeting, in August last year, the chief minister had raised the issues of Rural Development Fund (RDF), stubble burning and farmers’ concerns, which he says the Center paid no heed to. Calling it only a “photo session”, CM Mann said in his note that there is no use in attending the meeting, unless the pending issues are addressed.
Three other prominent opposition leaders—Telangana’s K Chandrasekhar Rao, West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar—who are trying to cobble together a united opposition front to take on the BJP in next year’s Lok Sabha elections, are meeting stay out of
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has maintained a distance from both the NDA and the opposition, was also absent from the meeting. According to the Chief Minister’s Office, Patnaik did not attend the meeting as he had prior engagements elsewhere.
NITI Aayog said eight major themes will be discussed during the day-long meeting, which include (1) Developed India @ 2047, (2) Thrust on MSMEs, (3) Infrastructure and investment, (4) Reducing compliance (v) women empowerment, (vi) health and nutrition, (vii) skill development, and (vii) driving force for area development and social infrastructure.
The development of India is closely linked with the development of the states. As the Prime Minister said in his 76th Independence Day address, ‘When our states grow, India grows’. This will be the guiding spirit of India’s inclusive and sustainable vision for the next quarter century. To achieve this vision, the meeting will provide a platform to strengthen Centre-State cooperation and build partnerships to achieve the goal of Developed India @2047.
