PM Narendra Modi at Samadhi of Atal Bihari Vajpayee
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, December 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the third National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi on 28th and 29th December 2023. This is the third such conference, the first was held in June 2022 in Dharamshala and the second in January 2023 in Delhi.
The first conference in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh had seen Modi making a firm picth for the state governments to shun ‘Revdi politics’. Modi had coined the term ‘Revdi politics’ to slam populist measures of the state governments in a public meeting in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the first meeting of the chief secretaries.
Modi’s bid to build a popular narrative against ‘politics of revdi’ had come on the back of the Reserve Bank of India coming out with a report which showed the grim picture of the finances of the states. Debt has been growing on the book of accounts of the state governments in the recent years amid rush to announce populist schemes with eyes on elections.
Prime Minister’s Office in a statement said: “Driven by the vision of the Prime Minister of putting the principle of cooperative federalism in action, National Conference of Chief Secretaries are organised to encourage participative governance and partnership between the Centre and the State Governments.”
Significantly, a report by the All India Radio said that the conference would also deliberate on the agenda of the rationalization of the schemes. It may be noted that there has been duplication of several of the Central government schemes much to the dislikes of the Centre. For instance, while the Centre has announced the extension of the free foodgrains scheme for almost 80 crore people for another five years, states such as Karnataka has own scheme wherein it gives 10 kg of rice free of cost to bring additional burden on the state’s exchequer.
The PMO said that the “the three day conference will witness participation of more than 200 people comprising of representatives of the Central Government, Chief Secretaries and other senior officials of all States/Union Territories. It will lay the ground for collaborative action for achieving better quality of life for both rural and urban population by strengthening the delivery mechanisms of government interventions.”
The conference is also likely to see a strong pitch on the part of Modi for the state governments to make efforts to help realise the ambition of the country to become the third largest economy in the near future. In line with the vision shared by the Centre, a number of states such as Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, and others have already put in place vision documents to make them $1 trillion economy. India is expected to become a $5 trillion economy by 2027, according to a number of international financial agencies.
The PMO also said that “the key focus of the National Conference of Chief Secretaries this year will be ‘Ease of Living’. The Conference will emphasise on the evolution and implementation of a common development agenda and blueprint for cohesive action in partnership with the States.”
The PMO in its statement also added that there will be a “special emphasis on easy access to welfare schemes and quality in service delivery, five sub-themes which will be discussed in the conference are Land & Property; Electricity; Drinking Water; Health; and Schooling. Apart from these, special sessions will also be held on Cyber Security: Emerging Challenges; Perspectives on AI, Stories from the Ground: Aspirational Block & District Programme; Role of States: Rationalisation of Schemes & Autonomous entities and Enhancing Capital Expenditure; AI in Governance: Challenges & Opportunities.”
The PMO also said that the conference would also hold “deliberations on Drug De-addiction & Rehabilitation; Amrit Sarovar; Tourism Promotion, Branding & Role of States; and PM Vishwakarma Yojana & PM SVANidhi. Best practices from States/ UTs under each of the themes would also be presented at the Conference so that the States can replicate the success achieved in one state or maneuver as per their own requirements.”
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