Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to convene the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog today. The theme of the meeting will be 'Viksit Bharat @2047: Role of Team India',
The meeting will be held at the new Convention Centre in Delhi's Pragati Maidan.
All about today's meeting
According to the details, the prime minister will deliberate on issues related to health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with the aim of making India a developed nation by 2047.
In a statement, the Niti Aayog said, "Eight prominent themes will be discussed during the day-long meeting including Viksit Bharat@2047, thrust on MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliance, women empowerment, health and nutrition, skill development and Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure."
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"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.
"This 8th Governing Council Meeting is also being held against 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," the NITI Aayog said.
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CM Kejriwal not attending the meeting
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he won't be able to attend the Niti Aayog meeting over the Centre's recent ordinance on control of services in Delhi.
The ordinance brought recently by the BJP-led central government has taken back elected Delhi government's executive control over bureaucracy that was earlier given to it by the Supreme Court through its verdict on May 11.
The chief minister of AAP-ruled Punjab, Bhagawant Mann, has also declared to boycott Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday.
AAP supremo and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, announced boycott of the Niti Aayog meeting over Centre's recent ordinance and charged that "cooperative federalism" in the country was being turned into a "joke".
The chief minister of the AAP-ruled Punjab, Bhagawant Mann, has also declared to boycott the Niti Aayog meeting to be held on Saturday.
No representative from Bengal
West Bengal will not have any representative at the Niti Aayog meeting in New Delhi on Saturday as the TMC government's request to send the state finance minister and the chief secretary was "turned down" by the Centre, which "insisted" that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may attend the event.
Banerjee has already decided not to attend the eighth governing council meeting of Niti Aayog.
Confirming the development, State Finance Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya told PTI, "We had requested the Centre to allow me and the chief secretary to attend the meeting as Mamata Banerjee is busy with some other work. In its reply, the Centre said the 'CM may attend'. This is an indirect way of not allowing anybody other than the CM to attend the meeting. Hence, there will be no representative of West Bengal at tomorrow's meeting."
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"If the chief minister of the state is preoccupied with some other work, can't she send any minister or official on her behalf? After all, I am the finance minister of the state and can represent the state. I do not understand the logic of not allowing the finance minister to attend the Niti Aayog meeting," she said.
(With PTI Inputs)
