The 9th meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. NITI Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subramaniam said that 26 participants including Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories attended the meeting, while 10 states and union territories did not participate in this important meeting. He said that the CMs of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Bihar, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Puducherry did not attend the meeting. He said that if they did not attend this meeting, it would be their loss. He also said that it would have been better if these states had come to the meeting. It would have been beneficial for us and them.
Regarding the states that did not attend the meeting, NITI Aayog CEO Subrahmanyam said that there are many states that left the meeting at the last moment. He said that I have speeches of some states that did not attend the meeting. These include Jharkhand and Puducherry. Subrahmanyam said that it is not that the states that did not attend the meeting were boycotted. For the states that did not attend the meeting, I always say that it is their loss.
Even though there are discussions in political circles about Bihar CM Nitish Kumar not attending the meeting, the CEO of Niti Aayog said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could not attend the meeting because he was busy in the assembly session in the state.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address in the meeting, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Beri said that he wants states to compete for FDI, so that investment can reach all states, especially those that are less successful. Demographic management and the concept of zero poverty were also discussed in the meeting. Niti Aayog CEO said that the Prime Minister wants states to spend more on districts so that they can become the carriers of development.