New Delhi, Aug 07, 2022, TRIPURATIMES Desk
New Delhi, Aug 7: The Governing Council of NITI Aayog met here on Sunday to discuss various issues including crop diversification, urban development and implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting, the first physical event of the Council after July 2019.
The Council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories and several Union ministers, while the prime minister is the Chairman of NITI Aayog.
Union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Rajnath Singh, S Jaishankar and chief minister of several states were also present.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, however, boycotted the meeting. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is convalescing after suffering from coronavirus, did not attend.
A full council meeting takes place every year, but the meeting was not convened in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The first meeting of the council took place on February 8, 2015.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee emphasised that the Centre should look into the demands of the state governments "more seriously" and no policies should be forced on them.
Banerjee stressed that there should be a "greater cooperation" between the Centre and the states, according to official sources.
She, however, left the meeting midway, citing the cyclone situation in Kolkata. Banerjee attended the first half of the deliberations.
On Friday, she had met Prime Minister Modi at his official residence in New Delhi.
At Sunday's meeting, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel urged the Centre to increase the state’s share in the central taxes and duties, citing rising burden on its resources.
Speaking on the issue of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) compensation, Baghel sought a five-year extension for the compensation paid to the state beyond June 2022, claiming that the state was facing a revenue shortfall due to the new tax mechanism.
He also urged the Centre to revise the royalty rate for major minerals, including coal, a state government official said.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on
urged the Centre to make it a special focus state and allocate funds for disaster proofing.
Noting that Odisha is impacted by natural disasters almost every year, Patnaik took the opportunity to raise his demand at the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting.