INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
9th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog which was attended by Chief Ministers/Lt Governors representing 20 States and 6 UTs
(Pic: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting)6 min read Last Updated : Jul 27 2024 | 9:02 PM IST
Emphasising the need for the states to
attract foreign direct investment (FDI) at a time when there is tremendous goodwill for India worldwide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on
the investor friendliness of the states.
At the ninth meeting of the NITI Aayog Governing Council, held at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural
lieutenant governors of 20 states and six Union Territories (UTs)
management, especially in the context of several states set to witness a decline in their respective working age populations
It was pointed out that most states, including those in the south, have already reached the total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.6, and are
statement said.
In his remarks, the PM spoke of the importance of skilling and training youth to make them employment-ready since the world
is looking favourably towards India for a skilled human resource
He underscored the importance of law and order, good governance, and infrastructure as vital for attracting investments, rather than just
with a per capita income of $18,000 per annum
some who excused themselves because of commitments in their respective states, such as Bihar CM Nitish Kumar
Congress CMs of Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, and Karnataka boycotted the meeting.
NITI Aayog officials said the Kerala CM had earlier
conveyed his inability to attend
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee "walking out" of the meeting alleging that her speech was cut short
However, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, and later in the day, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer (CEO) BVR Subrahmanyam disputed
for his speech, while the chief ministers of Assam, Goa, and Chhattisgarh, all BJP-ruled states, spoke for 10-12 minutes
empowered to allocate funds.
Tamil Nadu CM Stalin expressed solidarity with Banerjee
He said the Aayog has not furthered the cause of cooperative federalism in any manner and its functioning has been blatantly partisan
Sitharaman said the West Bengal CM spoke beyond her allotted time
A few other CMs spoke beyond their allotted time, which was allowed without any fuss and no microphones were switched off, particularly not
Was happier when she said she is speaking for Bengal and in fact for the entire opposition
I may agree or disagree with what she had to say
to trigger a fresh spurt of domestic investment, which marked the Manmohan Singh decade
He said FDI has been sluggish since 2014 because of erratic policymaking, senseless demonetisation, the botched goods and services tax,
requested that she had to leave early and that she be allowed to speak much earlier than the alphabetical order would have allowed
The Aayog acceded to her request
He said every chief minister was allowed seven minutes to speak after which Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would tap his table to signal
that their allotted time was over
She did not seek additional time to speak
The West Bengal chief secretary continued to attend the meeting, Subrahmanyam said.First Published: Jul 27 2024 | 9:02 PMIST
