The third meeting of the Governing Council of Niti Aayog was held in New Delhi on Sunday and saw Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking states to speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation, PTI reported. He also spoke of his dreams for a New India, unveiled a 15-year vision document and asked states to think about simultaneous elections, the news agency said.
The meeting, which was skipped by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, also saw the prime minister speak extensively on the Goods and Services Tax scheme which will be rolled out from July. “GST reflects the spirit of one nation, one aspiration, one determination,” the news agency quoted Modi as saying in the meeting which was attended by the chief ministers and top officials of both the Centre and states. “Consensus on GST will go down in history as a great illustration of cooperative federalism,” Modi added.
The Prime Minister said his vision for a New India could only be achieved through cooperation with all states and their chief ministers.
“The NITI Aayog is working on a 15-year long term vision, seven-year medium term strategy, and 3-year action agenda… This effort needs support of states,” the Prime Minister’s Office quoted Modi as saying in his opening statement, according to Hindustan Times.
Modi also spoke on his plans to hold simultaneous elections, and said that it was time the governments “carried forward the debate and discussion on simultaneous elections,” PTI reported.
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