PM Modi promises more funds, financial freedom to states at first meeting of NITI Aayog

Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi promised more funds and financial freedom to states at the first meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog in the national capital on Sunday and exhorted the chief ministers (CMs) to bury differences to help the country achieve high growth.

He addressed the CMs and representatives of 31 states and Union Territories as Team India and asked the CMs to personally monitor factors impacting project execution.

Modi offered to transfer to the state governments some of the 66 centrally sponsored schemes for which Rs 3,38,562 crore was provided in 2014-15 Budget.

A sub-group of CMs would be set up under the Aayog to look into rationalisation of these schemes and recommend which ones should be continued, transfer to states or cut down. "We will move away from 'one size fits all' schemes and forge a better match between the schemes and the needs of states," Modi said.

The PM also announced setting up of two more such sub-groups: one for skill development and creation of jobs within states and the other to create an institutional framework to make Swachh Bharat a continuous initiative.

Identifying poverty elimination as the biggest challenge, he said that Aayog will forge a model of co-operative and competitive federalism.

Noting that India cannot advance without all its states advancing in tandem, Modi said the idea is to bring up all states together in the spirit of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'.

Those who attended the meeting included CMs of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Assam, Punjab, Tamil Nadu (TN), Oommen Chandy, Himachal Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee skipped the meet. TN and UP demanded more funds while Kerala sought greater flexibility in Central allocations.