Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the ninth governing council meeting of the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) on Saturday, July 27. The council, the apex decision-making body of NITI Aayog, includes chief ministers from all states, lieutenant governors of union territories, and several union ministers, with Modi serving as the chairman. The meeting aims to foster participative governance and strengthen cooperation between the Centre and state governments.
Chief ministers from BJP-ruled states, including Maharashtra’s Eknath Shinde, Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath, Arunachal Pradesh’s Pema Khandu and deputy CM Chowna Mein, Tripura’s Manik Saha, Assam’s Himanta Biswa Sarma, Odisha’s Mohan Charan Majhi, Chhattisgarh’s Vishnu Deo Sai, Gujarat’s Bhupendra Patel, and Meghalaya’s Conrad Sangma, are expected to attend. Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee are also slated to participate. However, Banerjee has expressed concerns about what she perceives as a “step-motherly attitude” of the Centre towards opposition-ruled states in the Union Budget 2024-25 and plans to address this issue during the meeting.
Banerjee stated, “I intend to discuss the neglect of opposition-ruled states in the budget. If I’m allowed to speak, I will; if not, I will protest and leave.”
Several opposition leaders, including Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, Himachal Pradesh’s Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Telangana’s Revanth Reddy, Punjab’s Bhagwant Mann, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, and Puducherry’s N Rangasamy, have opted to boycott the event. The attendance of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren remains uncertain.
The meeting will primarily focus on the ‘Approach Paper’ for the vision document on ‘Viksit Bharat @2047,’ outlining India’s developmental roadmap. It will also discuss recommendations from the third National Conference of chief secretaries held last December, covering critical themes such as drinking water access, quality and quantity, electricity reliability, healthcare affordability, quality education, and digitization of land and property records. Other topics on the agenda include cyber security, the aspirational districts and blocks programme, the role of states in governance, and the potential of AI in public administration.
This gathering represents a significant opportunity for dialogue and collaboration, aimed at enhancing the quality of life for India’s rural and urban populations through improved government intervention delivery mechanisms.
