NITI Aayog meet: Farming, environment, NEP; here’s what CMs brought to the table

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (August 7) appreciated the collective efforts of states in the spirit of cooperative federalism in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chairing the seventh meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, Modi made a strong case for modernising agriculture, animal husbandry and food-processing to help the country become self-sufficient and a global leader in the agriculture sector.

Among other initiatives, Modi also asked states to focus on promoting the 3Ts – Trade, Tourism and Technology – with an aim to cut down on imports and increase exports.

In the course of the meeting, detailed discussions were held on achieving self-sufficiency in agricultural production and crop diversification, implementation of the new national education policy and urban bodies administration among others, with chief ministers making suggestions for improvements while also reporting reforms made by their governments on these fronts so far.

Modi assured the chief ministers that the NITI Aayog will study the states’ concerns, challenges, and best practices and subsequently plan the way forward. The issues discussed in this meeting will define the national priorities for the next 25 years, he said.

Here is what states discussed during the meeting:

Rajasthan: Hike financial aid, give national project status to ERCP

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot urged the Centre to increase the financial assistance for various centrally sponsored schemes, and sought national project status to the ambitious Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP).

Gehlot said that ERCP is an ambitious project worth ₹37,000 crore, which will provide irrigation facility to about an area of two lakh hectares in 13 districts of eastern Rajasthan. He said that the project will also help solve the problem of drinking water in these districts. The chief minister said the prime minister had earlier promised to adopt a positive attitude regarding this project and asserted that this project would also help in the successful implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission. He said that due to the changes made in the economic participation pattern of various centrally sponsored schemes, additional financial burden is being placed on the states.

Gehlot also demanded that the period of GST compensation be extended by five years to June, 2027, and to release the arrears of GST compensation amount of about ₹3,780 crore to Rajasthan in a lump sum from 2017-18.

Grant legal guarantee to MSP on crops: Punjab CM

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann demanded legal guarantee to Minimum Support Price (MSP) on crops to safeguard the interest of farmers. He also urged the Centre to ensure a foolproof marketing system for alternative crops.

Speaking at the CG meeting, Mann recalled that at the time when the country was starving, the hard working and resilient farmers of Punjab had made the country self-reliant in food production. “However, as agriculture is no longer a profitable venture, the farmers are facing a serious crisis,” he said.

Mann said all out efforts must be made to bail out farmers from this situation for which the Union government must step in.

The chief minister underscored the need for making MSP on crops a legal guarantee and said it is the need of the hour so that interests of farmers can be safeguarded. Mann said MSP must be remunerative as the input cost of agriculture have enhanced manifolds and farmers are not getting the right price of their harvest.

He also rejected the committee on MSP constituted by the government, and demanded that it should be reconstituted with “real farmers” as its members. He said the committee is dominated by arm chair economists who don’t have any knowledge about agriculture. Mann said experts of agriculture along with all the stakeholders must be made members of this committee.

Expressing concern over the import of pulses at exorbitant prices, the chief minister said this drain of the country’s wealth needs to be checked and Punjab can play an important role in it. He said the farmers of the state are ready to make the country self-relevant in production of pulses.

However, Mann said the Union government must announce MSP for pulses and an assured marketing system for it.

The chief minister said diversification of crops is urgently needed to take farmers out of the rut of wheat/ paddy cycle on one hand and to save the depleting ground water level on the other.

Jharkhand: Soren seeks special package for drought-like situation

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren sought a special package from the Centre to deal with the drought-like situation in the state. Speaking at the meeting, Soren, pointed out that the state faces drought every three to four years due to lack of irrigation facilities.

“This year, the state so far registered 50 per cent deficit rainfall, with less than 20 per cent of the paddy sowing target achieved. Jharkhand is inching towards drought. I urge the Centre to approve a special package for Jharkhand in a bid to deal with the situation,” a statement from his office quoted him as saying.

The chief minister also demanded a package for development of irrigation facilities in the state.

“There is an acute shortage of irrigation facilities in the state. The existing facilities can cover only 20 per cent of the land. Five lakh hectares of kharif land comes under upland category. If an irrigation facility is provided to such plots, crops can be diversified,” he said.

Seeking NITI Aayog’s intervention, he sought necessary instructions to facilitate approval of Kisan Credit Card by all banks. “Of the 38 lakh farmers in Jharkhand, only 13 lakh farmers were able to procure KCC benefits till 2019. In past two years, five lakh new farmers were added to the list. However, more than 10 lakh applications are still pending in various banks,” Soren told the meeting.

He stated that Jharkhand Assembly recently approved the setting up of Pandit Raghunath Murmu Tribal University in a bid to open the doors of higher education for tribal students. Also, a credit card scheme would soon be implemented in the state to provide loans to students at minimum rate of interest, he said.

The Jharkhand chief minister has also sought more share from the mining revenue generated in Jharkhand.

“Jharkhand was formed to protect water, forest and land. But companies that come for mining operations or to set up industries simply exploit the resources here. No attempt has been made by any mining company to restore the land. There has never been a proper effort to solve the issue of displaced people. So, I feel Jharkhand should get maximum share of the income from mining operations,” he said, adding that the state was yet to get its dues of ₹1.36 lakh crore from mining companies, which can utilised for welfare of people.

Make Odisha ‘special focus state’: Naveen urges Modi

Noting that Odisha is impacted by natural disasters almost every year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the Centre to make it a special focus state and allocate funds for disaster proofing.

“Team India” has shown its resolve under the prime minister’s leadership in effectively handling the COVID-19 pandemic, Patnaik was quoted as saying in a statement.

India is at the crossroads of becoming a great economic superpower rooted in inclusive growth and NITI Aayog can play an important role in facilitating this, he said.

“We all accept that the state and central governments are political entities and sometimes there are disputes in the implementation of central schemes. NITI Aayog can resolve these issues like an ombudsman,” Patnaik said.

This will promote cooperative federalism and speedy implementation of schemes, he added.

“As regards my state, historically we have been neglected in the subjects in the central list viz telecom, railways and banking. We have the lowest density in all these crucial infrastructures and I would urge the central government to give special focus for Odisha,” he said.

Patnaik said that the Centre should note that Odisha is impacted almost every year by natural disasters. “It’s important to have disaster-resilient infrastructure to protect the state and its people from the vagaries of nature. I would sincerely request the central government to make Odisha a special focus state and allocate funds for disaster proofing,” Patnaik said.

He also urged the Centre to help the state preserve its monuments.

“As you know, conservation and preservation systems has gone huge changes globally. Both in terms of technology and legal framework. I would suggest that ASI should be transformed and the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (or AMASR Act) amended to make our systems on par with global benchmarks,” Patnaik said.

This will greatly help in protecting heritage sites including Konark, he added.

Andhra accords top priority to agriculture, education: Jagan

The Andhra Pradesh government has been according top priority to the agriculture sector as its share in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was 35 per cent, Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said at the meeting.

Similarly, effective policies were being implemented in the education sector to improve the outcomes and make the children competitive.

Reddy also highlighted the initiatives of his government in the two sectors and presented a note

“After the bifurcation (in 2014), Andhra Pradesh has become a state completely dependent on agriculture. Sixty-two per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture and contributing 35 per cent to the GSDP. Hence, we have accorded top priority to this sector,” a statement from his office quoted him as saying.

He listed out the initiatives like establishment of 10,778 Rythu Bharosa Kendras that act as one-stop shop for all agricultural needs, free crop insurance and the PM KISAN-Rythu Bharosa input assistance scheme.

“We are also extensively using digital technology for monitoring purchase of agricultural produce. e-Crop booking is another initiative to help in effective implementation of input subsidy, crop insurance and similar schemes,” Reddy said.

Focus was also on natural and organic farming, interchanging of crops and cultivation of millets, he added.

Reddy said, in the education sector, several initiatives were launched with the firm belief that good education alone would alleviate poverty. He lamented that the gross enrolment ratio in primary education in the state was only 84.48 per cent against the national average of 99.21 per cent. “We will be refurbishing over 55,000 schools in three phases and have covered 15,715 in the first phase to create a better learning environment for students. We are promoting English language education in schools to enable children to face international competition,” he said.

Focus was also on skill development at the undergraduate-level even through traditional courses, he added.

Centre should not go against federal structure of Constitution: Kerala CM

The Centre should not go against the federal structure of the Constitution and legislation on subjects listed in its concurrent list should be carried out in consultation with the states, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Vijayan said the central government should refrain from making laws on matters in the State list of the Constitution.

Besides telling the Centre not to “challenge” federalism, Vijayan said steps should be taken to raise Kerala’s credit-limit as it has not yet recovered from the economic problems caused by COVID-19.

He said the southern state has entrusted matters related to panchayats and municipalities, mentioned in the 11th and 12th schedules of the Constitution, with the local self-governing bodies as part of decentralisation of power. Therefore, the Centre should consider this aspect also when distributing the consolidated funds.

He also spoke on the need for a legal solution to the Supreme Court’s direction to maintain a one-km wide eco-sensitive zone (ESZ). The apex courts direction in June this year has created a lot of rumblings among those living in the hilly and forest regions of Kerala, leading to the State Assembly unanimously passing a resolution requesting the Centre to exempt inhabited places and agricultural lands in the state while implementing the one-km wide ESZ.

The apex court had, on June 3, directed that each protected forest, including national parks and wildlife sanctuaries, must have an ESZ of one km and banning of mining activities within such parks across the nation. The apex court had said no permanent structure would be allowed within such zones and said if the local law or other rules provide for an ESZ of more than one km then the earlier provision would continue to apply.

Uttarakhand CM bats for separate development model for Himalayan states

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said a special conference of Himalayan states should be organised under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and stressed the need for drafting a development model keeping in mind various aspects of these states.

Speaking at the GC, Dhami said the Centre’s think tank should frame a development model for the Himalayan states keeping in view their ecology, population density, temporary population and environmental sensitivity.

Dhami also volunteered to host the special conference of Himalayan states.

He requested that while formulating centrally-funded schemes, the specific geographical conditions of states should be kept in mind and instead of one for all, state-friendly plans should be prepared. He referred to tourism and aromatic plant-based schemes, saying the hill state would get immense benefit from them.

Emphasizing the need to start a comprehensive programme for the rejuvenation of water streams, Dhami said check dams and small reservoirs can be constructed under it. He said technical and financial support of the Centre would be required in the programme.

MP will contribute $550 bn to make India $5-trillion economy: Chouhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan pledged that the state will contribute USD 550 billion to realise Prime Minister Modi’s vision to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

He said Madhya Pradesh is keeping in mind the vision of Modi regarding the march of ‘aatmanirbhar’ or ‘self-reliant’ India of the 21st century. The chief minister said NITI Aayog has a major role in the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ programme – which aims to enhance interaction and promote mutual understanding between people of different states/Union Territories through the concept of state/UT pairing.

He said the Aayog has become the strength of states and MP was an example. Chouhan said the state government charted a self-reliant Madhya Pradesh map in 2020 and has achieved a 19.74 per cent development rate in 2021-22 as it is marching ahead on the economic front. He said the state’s priority was to generate employment and one lakh government jobs will be provided in the next one year.

Speaking on the execution of the National Education Policy, Chouhan said Madhya Pradesh has taken a giant leap and achieved the fifth spot in the country, according to the National Achievement Survey. He said 18,500 teachers were hired to improve school education in the last fiscal. Madhya Pradesh is also stressing to impart teaching in the mother tongue, he added.

UP successful due to Modi’s guidance, leadership: Aditynath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath credited Modi’s guidance and leadership for the success of the state.

“Whatever the state has been successful in doing today, the biggest support has been the guidance and leadership of the prime minister,” Adityanath said.

“The mantra of sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishvas, sabka prayas given by the prime minister, has become the foundation for the sarvasparshi (omniscient) and sarvasamaveshi (all inclusive) development of the state,” he said.

Adityanath also said that Uttar Pradesh’s contribution in fulfilling the dream of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy will be very important, and in the coming five years, the state will achieve the target of becoming a USD 1 trillion economy. PTI NAV CK

‘Himachal Pradesh implementing ambitious crop diversification scheme’

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur informed at the meeting that the state government is implementing a ₹1,010-crore crop diversification scheme in all the 12 districts of the state. The budget provision has been made for promoting mushroom farming especially Shitake and Dhingree varieties, he added.

He said 31,584 orchardists of Himachal Pradesh are covered under state-sponsored schemes whereas 4.15 lakh orchardists have benefitted under centrally sponsored schemes during the last four-and-a-half years. He informed that in order to double the income of farmers, 3,590 gram panchayats have been covered under “Prakritik Kheti Khushal Kisan Yojna” and added that farmers had saved about ₹9.75 crores by switching over to natural manure instead of chemical fertilisers.

Thakur said 10 points of sale were set up across the state besides Delhi and Chandigarh for selling natural farming produce. He added that efforts were also afoot to increase production of pulses, oilseeds and other agriculture produce to achieve self-sufficiency with the help of advanced technology.

He urged Modi to five TV channels to Himachal Pradesh out of total 200 channels under recently announced Swayam Prabha which will telecast high quality educational programmes.

Haryana promoting use of technology and crop diversification: Khattar

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said use of latest technology and crop diversification is being promoted in the state and an area of 46,249 hectares has been diversified in place of paddy under the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat scheme.

“An incentive of ₹7,000 per acre is given to farmers who grow alternate crops in place of paddy under the Mera Pani-Meri Virasat scheme. Furthermore, an incentive amount of ₹76 crore has been deposited in the accounts of 74,133 farmers through direct benefit transfer (DBT),” he said.

“Under this scheme, an area of 46,249 hectares has been diversified in the last two years,” he said.

He said Haryana contributes about 15 per cent foodgrains to the central pool. “Our agricultural growth rate is about 3.3 per cent per annum. Productivity is high in the state, which is ₹1.57 lakh per hectare…,” he said, pointing out that these figures clearly indicate that the income of farmers of the state is constantly increasing.

The Haryana chief minister added that crop diversification has been adopted in an area of 62,500 acres for maize and 32,500 acres for pulses.

An incentive of ₹10,000 per hectare is also being given to farmers who sow paddy through Direct-Seeded Rice (DSR) technique. This saves about 25 to 30 per cent of water, he said.

He informed that since 2015-16 to 2020-21, Haryana’s growth rate has been continuously recorded at more than 6 per cent.

“Haryana’s manufacturing growth rate is 10 per cent,” which he said is highest in the country. “More than half the area of the state comes under the National Capital Region (NCR). To promote the business and industrial sector in this NCR region, we are developing it as a logistic hub,” he said.

Touching upon the education sector, Khattar said Haryana has set a target to implement the New Education Policy- 2020 by the year 2025. For this, a high-level committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of the education minister, he said.

Maharashtra CM seeks Centre’s aid in agri, education sectors

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde urged the Centre to increase the procurement limit for the minimum support price (MSP) to 50 per cent of the production, and also sought its support in the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).

Speaking at the GC meeting, Shinde highlighted the steps taken by the state for implementation of the NEP, and said his government was fully committed to effective rollout of this education policy. He also said that the cost norms need to be revised to boost the horticulture sector. “In the mission for integrated development of horticulture, cost norms fixed in 2015 have not been changed. Project cost is significantly increasing due to the rise in prices of cement, iron and other raw material and it is no more affordable to farmers,” he said.

He added the procurement limit for the MSP be increased to 50 per cent of the production. On the steps taken by the state government for implementation of the NEP, he said the state has made substantial progress in achieving universal access to elementary education. “The state is fully committed to effective implementation of the NEP and has taken definitive steps in this direction. The gross enrolment ratio of Maharashtra has improved steadily in the last decade. The state is also promoting online and distant learning programmes,” he said.

To make higher education affordable to everyone, the state government is providing scholarships to the needy students from backward castes and economically weaker sections, he said, adding that Maharashtra will achieve the target of 50 per cent gross enrolment ratio well before 2035. The chief minister said transformation envisaged by the NEP can be effected through a massive capacity-building programme of faculty and supporting staff.

The state government has set up Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy for providing need-based training to teachers and academic leaders. The state is also encouraging higher education institutions, Shinde said. Seeking Centres support in implementation of the NEP, he said the central government should prepare an incentive scheme for the institutions which are taking a lead in implementation of the NEP.

‘Gujarat prioritised welfare activities’

The Gujarat government has given a priority to welfare activities through well-planned urban development and citizen-oriented governance, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said.

“Gujarat has ranked first in various indices of the central government on good governance, logistics performance, energy and climate, export readiness and sustainable goal under the guidance of PM Modi,” Patel was quoted as saying in a release issued by the CMO.

He said the state government has given priority to welfare activities through well-planned urban development and citizen-oriented governance by ensuring the rapid development of cities. Gujarat has prepared a three-tier urban development roadmap for cities.

Speaking on the urban development initiatives, Patel said the Online Development Permit System (ODPS 2.0) helps in the speedy processing of the plan approval across cities. Around one lakh development clearances have been granted in the last two years under this initiative, he said. Gujarat has also achieved crop diversification in concurrence with the Centres policy, which has been observed most markedly in horticulture.

(With inputs from agencies)