New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday chaired the eighth governing council meeting of the Niti Aayog, in which eight Chief ministers were not present.
Namely, Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, Bhagwant Mann of Punjab, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, K Chandrashekar Rao of Telangana, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, Nitish Kumar of Bihar and Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala did not attend the meeting of the Niti Aayog. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, who is on a visit to Japan and Singapore, was also not present at the meeting.
Rajasthan’s CM Ashok Gehlot has cited health reasons for not attending, and Kerala’s CM Pinarayi Vijayan has not given any specific reason for his absence, while, CM Kejriwal wrote to the PM on Friday, announcing his boycott of the meeting.
CM Bhagwant Mann also has written a note to the Centre saying it’s not paying attention to Punjab’s interests, which is why he will boycott the meeting.
The BJP in its presser said the missing Chief Ministers did not bring the voice of the people to a crucial planning meeting, where over a hundred issues were listed to be discussed.
आज नीति आयोग की बैठक में 8 मुख्यमंत्री नहीं आए। नीति आयोग देश के विकास और योजनाओं के लिए बहुत ही महत्वपूर्ण है। इस बैठक के लिए 100 मुद्दे तय किए गए हैं, अब जो मुख्यमंत्री नहीं आए हैं वो अपने प्रदेश की जनता की आवाज यहां तक नहीं ला रहे हैं। मोदी विरोध में आप कहां तक जाएंगे?
– श्री… pic.twitter.com/iAJMPyHEaN
— BJP (@BJP4India) May 27, 2023
Themed on ‘Viksit Bharat @2047: Role of Team India’, the meeting was held at the new Convention Centre in the national capital’s Pragati Maidan.
As the chairman of NITI Aayog, PM Modi presided over the meeting, which deliberated on issues related to health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.
“Eight prominent themes will be discussed during the day-long Meeting including (i) Viksit Bharat@2047, (ii) Thrust on MSMEs, (iii) Infrastructure and Investments, (iv) Minimising Compliances, (v) Women Empowerment, (vi) Health and Nutrition, (vii) Skill Development, and (viii) Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure,” the NITI Aayog stated ahead of the meeting.
Chief Ministers of several States participated in the council meeting that was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde were seen at the meeting.
“The Meeting will see the participation of Chief Ministers/Lt Governors of all States and Union Territories, Union Ministers as ex-officio Members, and the Vice Chairman and Members of NITI Aayog”, it stated.
“Wide-ranging stakeholder consultations and brainstorming sessions with subject experts, academia and practitioners were held prior to the Conference in order to gain well-rounded grassroots-level perspectives,” it further said.
The NITI Aayog further said, “This 8th Governing Council Meeting is also being held in the backdrop of India’s G20 Presidency. India’s G20 motto ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’ conveys its civilisational values and its vision of the role of each country in creating the future of our planet.”
This will be the guiding spirit of India’s inclusive and sustainable vision for the next quarter century.