Centre, States must work together, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that at a time when many major economies are facing uncertainty and economic challenges, India’s growth story continues to inspire the world. He was addressing the 11th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog at Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

Highlighting the strength of India’s demographic profile, PM Modi called India’s 70 crore youth its asset and urged States to focus on transforming it into a development dividend through education, skilling and capacity-building initiatives that prepare young people for future opportunities and challenges.

The annual NITI Aayog meeting, chaired by the PM, has in recent years been marked by boycotts and absences from several chief ministers, particularly those heading Opposition-ruled states. This year, however, broke that trend. Chief Ministers from all 28 states attended the forum on Thursday, making it one of the most widely attended editions of the council in recent past.

Among those present were Tamil Nadu CM Joseph Vijay, Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar, Kerala CM VD Satheesan, Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. They also met the PM later in the day separately. Additionally, the Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories and several Union ministers attended the meeting.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, in his maiden address at the NITI Aayog meeting on Thursday, requested the Centre to release the `3,284 crore Samagra Shiksha funds to the state without insisting on any riders.

The PM asked every State to further strengthen the nation’s resolve towards self-reliance and highlighted the importance of adopting and implementing global best practices, particularly in the renewable energy sector.

Highlighting the importance of good governance, transparency, and infrastructure for attracting investment, PM Modi urged States to focus on branding, ease of doing business, and emerging opportunities in sectors such as data centres and artificial intelligence. The PM also drew attention to concerns arising from El Niño conditions and appealed to States to promote water conservation and encourage natural and organic farming practices.

Underscoring the importance of cooperative federalism, the Prime Minister stated that the Centre and the States must work together to achieve the goal of a Viksit Bharat. He stressed that the vision of Viksit Bharat should become the collective resolve of every State, district, block and village.

Prime Minister urged States to focus on One District One Product (ODOP) initiatives and develop export-oriented strategies around it. He also identified defence manufacturing as an emerging sector where India is establishing a distinct identity and encouraged States to formulate policies to leverage the opportunities arising from its growth.

Last year, four opposition chief ministers, such as West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar, skipped the 10th Governing Council meeting.

In 2024, as many as 10 chief ministers were absent from the meeting, with several opposition leaders boycotting the event, while others skipped it due to prior commitments and instead sent representatives on their behalf. A similar trend was witnessed in 2023, when nine chief ministers stayed away. The years before that also followed a comparable pattern.