On Saturday, a NITI Aayog meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took place in New Delhi. NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam reported that over ten Chief Ministers and Union Territories (UTs) did not attend the Governing Council meeting. However, the event saw participation from Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors of 26 states and UTs.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was unable to attend due to his commitments in the assembly session. Subrahmanyam noted that, in addition to Bihar and Kerala, the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Puducherry were also absent, stating that this was a missed opportunity for them.
The meeting centered on strategies for eradicating poverty in rural areas and advancing state development. Subrahmanyam indicated that after gathering feedback from the Chief Ministers, NITI Aayog will finalize the ‘Vision India at 2047’ document within the next 45 days.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery highlighted that Prime Minister Modi encouraged states to compete for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to ensure investments are spread across all states. The discussion also covered population management and poverty alleviation.
According to Subrahmanyam, the Prime Minister urged states to increase spending on district-level development to speed up overall progress. PM Modi emphasized the importance of focusing on poverty eradication at the village level and suggested that after proper evaluation, villages could be declared “poverty-free.”