New Delhi: The Centre, states and Union Territories need to work as a team and develop a long-term common vision to fulfil the aspirations of people to make India a developed country by 2047, when the country completes 100 years of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday at the eighth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog here.
The Prime Minister underlined the need for evolving a common vision and urged States should maintain fiscal discipline and take financially prudent decisions capable of delivering programmes that meet the aspirations of citizens.
PM urges states to proactively use Gati Shakti Portal
He urged the states to proactively use the Gati Shakti Portal not only for infrastructure and logistics but also for local area development and creation of social infrastructure.
The meeting, which was attended by Union ministers Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal, deliberated on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.
Chief ministers and Lt Governors of 19 states and six UTs attended the meeting, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said.
However, chief ministers of 11 states — Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Manipur and Rajasthan — did not attend the meeting.
The chief ministers and LGs who attended the meeting gave various policy-level suggestions and highlighted specific issues pertaining that require Centre-State cooperation. The key suggestions and best practices highlighted by them include opting for green strategies, a need for zone wise planning, tourism, urban planning, agriculture, quality of workmanship, and logistics.
NITI Aayog, which can play a critical role in helping states develop their strategies for the next 25 years and align them with the national development agenda, will study the states' concerns, challenges, and best practices and subsequently plan the way forward, Modi said.
This was the first formal meeting at the newly-constructed Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan which later in the year will host G20 Summit.