Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised states to develop plans with fiscal restraint and urged them to develop a shared vision for reaching the objective of a developed country by 2047.
Chairing the 8th meeting of the government’s policy think tank Niti Aayog at the new convention centre at Pragati Maidan, the PM said that the Centre, states and Union Territories should work as Team India and fulfil the dreams and aspirations of people for a developed country by 2047.
According to him, Niti Aayog can be crucial in assisting states in creating their 25-year strategies and coordinating them with the national development goal. He asked the states and UTs to collaborate with Niti Aayog so that the nation could make a significant advancement in accomplishing the objective.
Niti Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam told reporters after the meeting of the council, “Fiscally imprudent states are suffering the consequences and the prime minister said we should all behave responsibly when we are announcing plans.”
“He basically said fiscal prudence is essential because you do not want to overburden future generations. Keep that in mind in whatever you do, we need to keep that in mind whenever we plan and announce things. I think the message was there.”
The PM also urged the states to take advantage of the Centre’s budget which had been advanced to February and urged the CM’s to implement works in the first three months of the fiscal year. “I have prepone my budget so that you can prepare your budgets better. Get cracking in the first three months of the year,” the PM was quoted as telling the chief ministers.
Chief ministers from 11 states, mostly run by opposition parties, did not attend the summit, which was attended by 19 states and six Union Territories. Punjab, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Kerala, Manipur, and Rajasthan were among the 11 states whose chief ministers did not attend the meeting.