PM Modi to chair NITI Aayog meet tomorrow; Cong CMs, Stalin to boycott

The Ninth Governing Council meeting of the NITI Aayog, scheduled for Saturday (July 27), and to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will focus on making India a developed nation by 2047, an official statement said on Friday (July 26).

Focus on ‘participative governance’

The council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. Modi is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

According to the statement, the meeting aims to foster participative governance and collaboration between the Centre and state governments, enhancing the quality of life for both rural and urban populations by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions.

"The Governing Council Meeting on July 27, 2024 will discuss the Approach Paper for the Vision Document on Viksit Bharat @2047...The meeting will also see detailed deliberations on the role of states in achieving the goal of Viksit Bharat @2047,” the statement said.

Recommendations of chief secretaries’ conference

The meeting will also focus on recommendations of the third National Conference of chief secretaries held in December last year.

During the conference, recommendations were made on five key themes – drinking water: access, quantity, and quality; electricity: quality, efficiency, and reliability; health: accessibility, affordability, and quality of care; schooling: access and quality and land and property: accessibility, digitisation, registration, and mutation.

Special sessions were also held to deliberate on cyber security, aspirational districts and blocks programme, role of states, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in governance which were also discussed during the National Conference of Chief Secretaries.

Vision document

A vision document is being prepared to help India become a developed economy of USD 30 trillion by 2047, the 100th year of its independence.

In 2023, NITI Aayog was entrusted with the task of consolidating the 10 sectoral thematic visions into a combined vision for Viksit Bharat @2047. The vision encompasses various aspects of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance, among others.

Congress CMs, Stalin, Vijayan to boycott meeting

Meanwhile, chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states – Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana's Revanth Reddy – have announced they will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting over alleged bias against their states in the Union Budget.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK leader MK Stalin, Kerala's CM and CPI(M) leader Pinnarayi Vijayan as well as Aam Aadmi Party-led Punjab and Delhi governments have also boycotted the meeting.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who was scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Thursday to attend the meeting, cancelled her plan. It was not clear if she would attend the meeting on Saturday.

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Sasmit Patra has supported the decision taken by opposition parties, and accused the Centre of denying states their share in the Budget.

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) MP Mahua Maji has said her party will take a decision based on the interests of the state. JMM is an INDIA bloc constituent.

(With inputs from agencies)