States showed their financial crisis in the meeting of NITI Aayog

The seventh meeting of the Governing Council of the federal policy think tank was held by Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and NITI Aayog. Rao alleged last week that “states have not been included as equal partners in the national development agenda,” an incident which the NITI Aayog described as “unfortunate”.

Resource requirements of the states were discussed in Sunday’s meeting. However, NITI Aayog vice-chairman Suman Berry said in a briefing that the states’ demand was for timely release of funds rather than asking for more. NITI Aayog CEO Parameswaran Iyer said there was a general discussion on resources and all the states stuck to the agenda – self-sufficiency in edible oils, crop diversification, urban governance and education.

In a statement after the meeting, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanded that legislation on subjects in the Concurrent List of the Constitution should be introduced after adequate consultation with the states, and the Center should refrain from making laws on items in the State List. He also pointed out that in view of the increase in the cost of construction material, there is a need to revise the central share of assistance under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (urban and rural). Vijayan also demanded a review of the GST on essential commodities and urged states to continue with the GST compensation for five years.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik urged the Center to give special attention and funds for disaster proofing to Odisha as the state is affected by natural calamities almost every year, news agency ANI reported.

The Center and the states also discussed ways to reduce import dependence on edible oils and diversify crops amid the water crisis in some parts of the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, said that India is importing edible oil of value. 1 trillion, or about half of the country’s total demand annually. According to NITI Aayog member, Agriculture Ramesh Chand, Modi emphasized the need for agricultural diversification and self-reliance in edible oils.

Chand said that the states have sought effective Minimum Support Price (MSP) for pulses and edible oil to boost crop production. States also shared information about plans to incentivize farmers to change their cropping patterns.

“Overall there was a perception that states are already working on both crop diversification and achieving self-reliance. The main demand that came up was the need to make the MSP more effective in the case of pulses and edible oils.

On pulses, Chand said that the production of pulses in the country has improved significantly in the last five to six years.

“We are exporting some pulses, and we are importing some pulses. In the case of pulses, we are now short of only lentils and to a lesser extent tur. In other types of pulses, we are very close to self-reliance,” he said, adding that in case of pulses, India’s import dependence is less than 7-8%.

The discussion on crop diversification is important as some states are facing severe water crisis. In 2019, Modi launched a scheme for groundwater conservation in seven states facing severe water scarcity and urged farmers to move away from crops like sugarcane and choose less water-intensive crops.

The Atal Jal Yojana aims to benefit Maharashtra, Haryana, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, where the groundwater situation is very worrying.

The topics discussed during the Governing Council meeting included crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds and other agri-commodities, implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) in school and higher education and urban governance.

A NITI Aayog statement said that during the meeting, the Prime Minister highlighted the importance of the themes on the agenda, especially India’s need to become a self-reliant and global leader with a focus on modern agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing. highlighted the need. in agriculture sector.

Modi said that rapid urbanization can become India’s strength rather than a weakness by leveraging technology to ensure ease of living, transparent service delivery and improvement in quality of life for every citizen of urban India.

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