Modi presents ‘New India’ vision at Niti Aayog meet
15YEAR PLAN PM lays down roadmap for allround growth; no show by Kejriwal, Mamata
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that states need to work together for what he calls a vision to create a “New India”, while addressing a meeting of the Niti Aayog’s governing council. The meeting, however, was skipped by chief ministers Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal — two of his staunchest critics.
The Niti Aayog is the country’s top-most policy-making body, and its governing council has among its members the Prime Minister and all chief ministers of the country. Sunday’s meeting was called to discuss a ‘15-year vision document’ that would lay down the road map for economic and social growth.
“The NITI Aayog is working on a 15-year long term vision, 7-year medium term strategy, and 3-year action agenda… This effort needs support of states,” PMO quoted Modi as saying in his opening statement.
The country is trying to push its GDP growth to upwards of 7.5% after it slipped to 7.1% in 2016-17 from 7.9% a year ago, due to the demonetisation drive.
Among those efforts is the rollout of a new indirect taxation regime, the GST, which the PM referred to on Sunday to drive home his point about federal cooperation. “Consensus on GST will go down in history as a great illustration of cooperative federalism,” Modi said. “GST reflects the spirit of one nation, one aspiration, one determination.”
Save for Banerjee and Kejriwal, Sunday’s meeting was attended by most of the other CMs. Kejriwal, however, sent deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to represent Delhi, a source quoted by PTI said.
According to the unidentified source, Modi had refused to allow anyone but the CMs and their deputies to attend the meet.
From opposition-ruled states, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami attended the meeting.
In addition to the CMs, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, Suresh Prabhu and Smriti Irani were also present.
Appreciating state and central ministers, Modi said, “Team India has once again assembled today to discuss and reflect on ways to prepare India for changing global trends”.
“The meeting today would be an opportunity to exchange views on policies and implementation”.
The PM said the government, private sector and civil society need to work in sync for development. “States can also contribute to the policy formulation,” he said referring to e-NAM, the online agriculture marketing platform that was drawn up on the lines of proposals from states.
The PM also appreciated suggestions on centrally sponsored schemes. “It was the first time CMs has been asked to recommend the list of centrally sponsored schemes and the sharing pattern despite funding constraints,” he said.
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It was quite an unlikely sight near the house of Kamlesh Regar in Bundi district of Rajasthan on Sunday morning.
Wedding preparations for the 23-year-old were in full swing and amidst an air of mirth and excitement that surrounded his family, over 50 police personnel stood guard -- unlikely ‘baraatis’.
It all started when Regar decided to break an age-old caste-based tradition and ride a mare, instead of a motorcycle, en route to his wedding venue, as was the practice in the village.
“The family members of Regar had told the police that they were facing subtle threats from other villagers because of his decision to ride a mare. They alleged that the threats were because Regar is from a scheduled caste,” said NR Meena, deputy superintendent of police, Hindoli.
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The family members of Regar had told the police that they were facing subtle threats from other villagers because of the groom’s decision to ride a mare