Niti Aayog platform is for historic change, says Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the fourth meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhawan on Sunday. Narendra Modi said the challenge now before the government was to take the economic growth rate to double digits, for which many important steps would have to be taken.

Modi further said the council has approached complex issues of governance as "Team India", in the spirit of cooperative, competitive federalism.

The prime minister said chief ministers of states had played a key role in policy formulation, through sub-groups and committees on issues such as Swachh Bharat Mission, Digital Transactions and Skill Development.

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appreciated states' role in institutionalising GST, Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has a different take on the tax. "The implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has common man, tax payers and businesses. The advantage of reducing global prices of crude oil has not been passed on to people," a brief of Naidu's talking point states.

Modi reiterated that NITI Aayog Governing Council is a platform that can bring about "historic change." He assured CMs from flood-affected States that Centre would provide all assistance to them, to deal with flood situation currently affecting parts of the country.

Tweeting about the same on Saturday, Prime Minister Modi had said, "Looking forward to the 4th Governing Council meeting of @NITIAayog tomorrow. Implementation of key policies relating to a wide range of sectors will be discussed during the meeting."

Issues, including measures taken to double farmers' income and progress of flagship schemes, will come up for discussion, an official statement issued had said on Friday. The day-long Governing Council meeting is being attended by chief ministers, several union ministers and Niti Aayog officials.