PM Modi urges states to maintain fiscal discipline take prudent decisions

    New Delhi, May 27 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the Centre, states and Union Territories need to work as a team and develop a long-term common vision to fulfil the aspirations of people to make India a developed country by 2047, when the country completes 100 years of Independence.
     Addressing the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog here, Modi also urged the states to maintain fiscal discipline and take financially prudent decisions which are capable of delivering programmes that meet the aspirations of the people.
The Prime Minister urged the states to proactively use the Gati Shakti Portal not only for infrastructure and logistics but also for local area development and creation of social infrastructure.
     Briefing media about the deliberations of the meeting, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said that chief ministers and Lt Governors of 19 states and six UTs attending the meeting.
    However, chief ministers of 11 states -- Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Manipur and Rajasthan -- did not attend the meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog.
It was also the first formal meeting at the newly-constructed Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan which later in the year will host G20 Summit.
     In his address to the Governing Council, the Prime Minister said that it was essential to combine the vision of states and districts with the national vision to reach the goal of Vikasit Bharat by 2047.
    "At #NITIAayog’s #8thGCM, PM @narendramodi stated that when states grow, India grows. He also emphasised the importance of evolving a common vision to achieve a #VikasitBharat @ 2047," NITI Aayog said in a series of tweets.
Modi asked the States and UTs to work with NITI Aayog so that the country can take a quantum leap towards achieving its vision for the Amrit Kaal.
     The Prime Minister also urged the states to take financially prudent decisions which would make them fiscally strong and capable of undertaking programmes for the welfare of citizens.
    "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 Aayog said in another tweet.
According to an official statement, chief ministers/Lt. Governors gave various policy-level suggestions.
They mentioned specific issues pertaining to the states which require Centre-State cooperation, it added.
Some of the key suggestions and best practices highlighted by them included opting for green strategies, a need for zone wise planning, tourism, urban planning, agriculture, quality of workmanship, and logistics, among others.
The Prime Minister said NITI Aayog will study the states’ concerns, challenges, and best practices and subsequently plan the way forward.
He said that NITI Aayog can play a critical role in helping States to develop their strategies for the next 25 years and align the same with the National Development Agenda
    NITI Aayog's eighth Governing Council meeting deliberated on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Niramala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal and chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, and Madhya Pradesh, among others, attended the meeting.
     AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, and announced boycotting the NITI Aayog meeting over the Centre's recent ordinance and charged that "cooperative federalism" in the country was being turned into a "joke".
The Chief Minister of the AAP-ruled Punjab, Bhagawant Mann, had also declared to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in 2019 skipped the Niti Aayog meeting, saying that the think-tank had no power and the meetings were "fruitless".
     Generally, the full council meeting happens every year and last year, it was held under the chairmanship of Modi on August 7. The council meeting was not convened in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
    The first meeting of the council took place on February 8, 2015.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)