Hummingbird News Desk
NEW DELHI, 7 AUG: During the seventh meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of NITI Aayog, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday emphasized that the Centre should look into the demands of the state governments “more seriously” and no policies should be forced on them.
Addressing the first half of the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhawan Cultural Centre, Delhi, Miss Banerjee stressed that there should be a “greater cooperation” between the Centre and the states, according to official sources. The Trinamul Congress supremo also said that state governments should not be pressurised to implement the National Education Policy (NEP).
She, however, left the NITI Aayog governing council meeting midway on Sunday, citing the cyclone situation in Kolkata.
Before heading to the airport, Mamata Banerjee conveyed her points concerning the MGNREGA scheme and the hike in Goods and Services Tax (GST) on certain essentials. Her car was spotted while leaving the premises at around 2 PM, on the way to the airport.
The West Bengal government was not keen on implementing the NEP. It constituted a 10-member committee of experts in April to examine NEP and assess the need for a state-level policy on education. There should be greater cooperation between the Central government and the state governments, she said during her around 15-minute speech at the meeting.
This is the first physical meeting of the Governing Council since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the 2021 meeting held via video conferencing. The meeting was attended by 23 chief ministers, three lieutenant governors, two Administrators, and Union ministers.
The Governing Council discussed four key agenda items – crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds, and other agri-commodities; implementation of National Education Policy in school education; implementation of NEP in higher education; and urban governance.
Tags: #NITIAayog #NEP #NarendraModi #MamataBanerjee #UrbanGovernance
