With chief ministers and lieutenant governors of over three dozen states and Union territories expressing solidarity and commending the success of Operation Sindoor at the 10th governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it is this approach that is needed to achieve Viksit Bharat (Developed India) goals by 2047.
“The strength of Team India shown in Operation Sindoor will also be the same feature which will enable India to achieve Viksit Bharat goals,” the PM said while addressing the meeting.
The governing council is the apex body of NITI Aayog and comprises the CM’s of all states, L-Gs of Union territories, the PM, cabinet ministers and top central government officials. It meets once a year. This year’s theme is ‘Vikshit Rajya for Viksit Bharat (Developed state for Developed India) @2047’.
However, while supporting Operation Sindoor, CMs of Opposition-ruled states including Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh raised issues of inadequate sharing of resources by the Centre and how it goes against the principle of cooperative federalism. Five CMs including three from Opposition-ruled states—West Bengal (Mamata Banerjee), Kerala (Pinarayi Vijayan) and Karnataka (Siddaramaiah)—skipped Saturday’s meeting. N. Rangaswamy, CM of Puducherry, Bihar’s Nitish Kumar also didn’t attend.
Speaking at the governing council meeting, Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin said, “It is not ideal for states in a federal democracy like India to struggle, argue, or litigate to receive the funds rightfully due to them. It hinders the development of both the state and the country.”
Stalin pushed for the states’ share of divisible tax revenue to be increased to 50 percent. He said that the 15th Finance Commission had recommended that 41 percent of divisible tax revenue be shared with states. Over the past four years, he claimed, only 33.16 percent of the Union government’s gross tax revenue had been shared.
Stalin also raised the issue of Centre’s decision to withhold the state’s funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan after Tamil Nadu refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Centre to implement its flagship PM Schools for Rising India scheme.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann brought up the issue of water and said his state does not have enough water to share with neighbouring Haryana.
Punjab and Haryana are involved in a dispute over sharing of water from the Bhakra-Nangal Dam.
Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu also spoke about pending central dues to the state. Sukhu said hill states like Himachal should get a higher allocation of funds.
‘Operation Sindoor has to be converted to social strength’
This was the first time after Operation Sindoor that PM Modi interacted with the CMs and L-Gs of all states and UTs under one roof. Except for West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Puducherry’s N Rangasamy, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, all attended Saturday’s meeting.
Addressing a press briefing in the evening, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said that most of the CMs who did not attend the meeting had either prior engagements or were not well. But he reiterated that there was a lot of positivity around.
“There was complete unanimity on Operation Sindoor and regret and anger over what happened in Pahalgam. That was a common theme at the meeting…the solidarity was uniform, irrespective of any particular ideology or party orientation,” Subrahmanyam said.
The PM said that Operation Sindoor is not just a show of army strength. “…it has to be converted to social strength. Society came out and supported our action. Similarly, Viksit Bharat is not the idea of a chief minister or an individual or anybody in the system…It has to be converted into a people’s movement,” the PM said.
“Ek lakshya tha Operation Sindoor ke liye…Viksit Bharat ke liye ek lakshya hoga aur hum ekjut hokar iske liye kaam karenge,” the PM said.
He added that Viksit Bharat should be the goal of every Indian. “When every state is Viksit, then Bharat will be Viksit. This is the aspiration of its 140 crore citizens.”
Modi said that India should focus on one goal: “We should have the aim of making each state Viksit, each city Viksit, each municipality Viksit and each village Viksit. If we work on these lines, we will not have to wait till 2047 to become Viksit Bharat.”
At the meeting, chief ministers made presentations about the vision plans for their respective states. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu and NDA ally proposed forming three focused sub-groups of states, in collaboration with the Centre and NITI Aayog, to fast-track progress toward Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai outlined the state’s bold long-term development vision to transform the state into a Rs 75 lakh crore economy by 2047. As part of this long-term development agenda, the government has prepared a comprehensive strategy called the ‘Chhattisgarh Anjor Vision Document’, which outlines integrated plans for economic growth, social progress, and environmental sustainability. (ANI)