Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 8th Governing Council meeting of Niti Aayog on the theme of ‘Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India’ at the new Convention Centre in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, Saturday, May 27, 2023. Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: PTI

NITI Aayog’s 9th Governing Council meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi began in New Delhi on July 27.

The meeting focuses on making India a developed nation by 2047. It 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 council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all state Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers. Prime Minister Modi is the chairman of NITI Aayog.

The meeting also focuses on recommendations of the 3rd 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, digitization, registration, and mutation.

A vision document is being prepared to help India become a developed economy of $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 other.

Chennai:

Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said Tamil Nadu has been completely ignored in the Union Budget and to condemn it, he said he will boycott the July 27 NITI Aayog meet in Delhi, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Terming the budget a big disappointment, the Chief Minister said he felt that it is appropriate to boycott the NITI Aayog meet, since the Centre has totally ignored Tamil Nadu.

DMK MPs will stage a protest in Delhi on July 24 over the Union Budget.

“In order to establish Tamil Nadu’s rights, we will continue to fight in the people’s court.” Speaking to reporters, MK Stalin said that in order to satisfy a few regional parties that made a ‘minority BJP’ into ‘majority BJP’, schemes have announced in the Budget for a few states, apparently referring to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.

Though such schemes have been announced by the Centre, it is doubtful whether these will be implemented. Though the Union government had announced ‘Metro Rail scheme’ for Tamil Nadu, no fund allocation has been made for it (Chennai Metro Rail Phase-2) and the state is being deceived till date, MK Stalin said.

Similarly, there is no guarantee that Bihar and Andhra Pradesh will not share Tamil Nadu’s fate in future.

“Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has forgotten all the states barring those that sustain this government. There is no special scheme for the state. None of our demands have been fulfilled.” Asked whether he thought that the big win of the DMK and its allies in the recent Lok Sabha polls was the reason for the Centre ignoring the state, he said, “they are angered to such an extent against the Tamil Nadu people.” Both Tamil Nadu and the Tirukkural, which PM Modi had said he loved, found not even a mention in the Budget.

Rather than saying that the word Tamil Nadu does not figure in the Budget, it will be better to say that Tamil Nadu does not form a part of the BJP regime’s thought process and in the work plan. The budget shows a partisan attitude and there is only disappointment.

Tamil Nadu witnessed two natural disasters (cyclones, deluge) in the recent past and the state had sought Rs 37,000 crore assistance from the Centre. However, so far only Rs 276 crore has been released.

“This is a big injustice for Tamil Nadu people,” he said. In the case of Bihar alone, Rs 11,500 crore is set to be given by the Centre for disaster relief.

He recalled his wish list for Tamil Nadu, which includes funds for ongoing Chennai Metro Rail Phase-2 work, Metro Rail schemes for Madurai and Coimbatore and said none of the representations of the state has been considered for announcement in the Budget.

Commenting on the Budget features, he said it appears to be a replica of the Tamil Nadu budget. For example, it is notable that the Union Budget says that 20 lakh youngsters will be provided skill enhancement coaching across the country during the next five years.

“However, in Tamil Nadu alone, in a year, we are providing skill development coaching to over 15 lakh young people.” “The Finance Minister has copied several Tamil Nadu schemes that are being successfully implemented. However, why she has not announced even one big scheme for Tamil Nadu as a mark of thanksgiving for borrowing Tamil Nadu’s schemes.” 

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