Seeking at least 50 per cent of the central plan outlay for the states, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has suggested that operational manual for the NITI Aayog were made in such a way that the states are taken along and the development was fast tracked. “The state government is committed to comprehensive development of the state and hope that the union government would pay attention to needs and problems of the state,” Yadav said while speaking in the NITI Aayog meeting on Sunday.
Stressing on the need of a clear and transparent procedure by the NITI Aayog Yadav suggested constituting of a sub-committee of members of the Commission and representation from the states. This sub-committee would, in a fixed time frame, submit its detailed recommendations to the governing council, which after endorsement should be accepted by the NITI Aayog, he said and added that in the new form of the NITI Aayog it was unclear how coordination would be established between states and union government.
Yadav also drew attention to the fact that the Governing Council of the Commission and the National Development Council were almost similar in their constitution and hence clarity should come on the National Development Council as there was no justification for maintaining two parallel institutions. CM said that his government was of the view that the NITI Aayog should work to remove the economic stumbling blocks in backward areas and contribute to comprehensive and all-round development of states.
“We believe that a minimum of 50 per cent of the central plan budget should be provided to the states as one time instalment, so that schemes are implemented as per local needs,” he said and suggested that till new systems of the NITI Aayog are not implemented at the ground level, especially considering that the 12th Five Year Plan was running into its third year, the previous annual plans should be kept running.
He also stressed the need of making long term policies with the next 10-15 years in mind but added that till such a time, the present system of five year plan system may be carried forward. “A transparent system should be such that there is no scope of discretion on allocation of funds to the states with regards to practical distribution of resources where backward regions/states are prioritized,” he said.
Referring to the importance accorded to infrastructure projects by the union government, Chief Minister said that a 'Project Monitoring Group' has been constituted in the state under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary . “Principal secretary, Prime Minister has been sent a letter on January 28 with regards to this after detailed scrutiny by the Chief Secretary though at local level, officers of the union government had not paid heed to these points in the past,” he said.
Akhilesh Yadav also said that with regards to various proposals and pending necessary approvals pending at the end of the GoI, a 'Project Monitoring Group' be arranged for at the level of NITI Aayog and the Prime Minister's Office in which officers from the state government are also assimilated. He further pointed out that with regards to lucknow Metro, while in-principle consent and budgetary provisions, have been made by the union government an approval from the centre is pending, despite all formalities being completed by the state government.
The Chief Minister further said that to take on the challenges of development at the national level, some serious initiatives had been set rolling by the union government, but most of them are still restricted to the conceptual level only. “For operational purposes the financial and other resources will be required along with the active involvement of the state. Out of these, on various points, the state government is already working on its own,” he said and elaborated on the steps Government has taken to build infrastructure. He revealed that government was also giving final shape to the 'Development Agenda' for next fiscal and budgetary provisions are also being made for this.