Joint effort & cooperative federalism helped us overcome Covid: PM Modi

 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today heralded the collective efforts of all the States in the spirit of cooperative federalism as the force that helped India emerge from the Covid pandemic.

Addressing the seventh meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of NITI Aayog, the Prime Minister said, "Every State played a crucial role according to its strength and contributed to India's fight against Covid. This led to India emerging as an example for the developing nations to look up to as a global leader."

This was the first physical meeting of the Governing Council since the onset of the pandemic, with the 2021 meeting held via video conferencing.

The meeting was attended by 23 Chief Ministers, 3 Lieutenant Governors and 2 Administrators and Union Ministers. The meeting was moderated by Defence Minister Shri Rajnath Singh.

In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister said India's federal structure and cooperative federalism emerged as a model for the world during the Covid crisis. He said that India had sent a powerful message to the developing nations of the world—that it is possible to overcome challenges with resilience despite resource limitations. The PM said that the credit for this goes to the State Governments, which focused on grassroots delivery of public services to the people through cooperation across political lines.

The Prime Minister highlighted that the seventh meeting was a culmination of months of rigorous brainstorming and consultations between the Centre and States to identify national priorities. "For the first time in India's 75 years of independence, all of India's Chief Secretaries met together in one place and deliberated issues of national importance for three days. This collective process led to the development of the agenda for this meeting," the PM said.

This year, the Governing Council discussed four key agenda items:

(i) crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds and other agri-commodities;

(ii) implementation of National Education Policy (NEP) in school education;

(iii) implementation of National Education Policy in higher education; and

(iv) urban governance.

The Prime Minister highlighted the importance of all of the above issues, especially the need for India to focus on modernized agriculture, animal husbandry, and food processing to become self-sufficient and a global leader in the agriculture sector. He said rapid urbanization can become India's strength instead of weakness by leveraging technology to ensure ease of living, transparent service delivery, and improvement in the quality of life for every citizen of urban India.

The PM also spoke about India's G20 presidency in 2023 and called it a unique opportunity to show the world that India is not just Delhi—it is every State and Union Territory of the country.

Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri SumanBery, reiterated that India's transformation has to take place in its states. He reaffirmed the need for the combined efforts of the Centre and States to realize the vision of a resurgent India post the pandemic.

In his closing remarks, the Prime Minister said that each state should focus on promoting its 3Ts, Trade, Tourism, Technology, through every Indian Mission around the world. He said the States must focus on reducing imports, increasing exports and identifying opportunities for the same in every state. "We should encourage people to use local goods wherever possible," he said. 'Vocal for local' is not the agenda of an individual political party but a common goal, he said.

The PM said even though GST collection has improved, the potential is much more. "Increasing GST collection requires collective action by the Centre and States. It is crucial for strengthening our economic position and becoming a USD 5 trillion economy," he said.

Speaking on the National Education Policy, the PM said the NEP has been formulated after considerable deliberations. He said, "We should involve all stakeholders in its implementation and develop a clear, time-bound roadmap for the same." (PIB)

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