NITI conclave on Saturday; last mile economy in focus
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, May 25: Aiming a developed India by 204, the eighth Governing Council meeting on Saturday has taken up the agenda to give a boost to the last mile connectivity in the economy, with push to infrastructure and skilling, to gain from the evolving order in the global supply chains.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman of the NITI Aayog, will preside over the conclave with the chief ministers for which preparatory meetings with the state chief secretaries have been held. The agenda, with eight themes, will aim to enlist the states as Team India to go for an accelerated approach for execution of infrastructure projects in their jurisdictions.
Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure is being given top priorities in the meeting of the Governing Council, which is taking place in the shadow of a divisive polity, as most of the Opposition parties, who are in power in several states, are boycotting the inauguration of the new parliament.
The prime minister is seen to be personally monitoring the progress of the projects taken under the Gati Shakti, which are of the nature of giving the last mile connectivity to help India expedite the movement of the goods in the global
“Eight prominent themes will be discussed during the day-long meeting, including Viksit Bharat@2047, thrust on MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliances, women empowerment, health and nutrition, skill development, and Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure,” said the NITI Aayog in an official statement.
Wide-ranging stakeholder consultations and brainstorming sessions with subject experts, academia and practitioners were held prior to the conference in order to gain well-rounded grassroot-level perspectives, said the think tank panel, adding that “the 2nd Chief Secretaries Conference, attended by the Prime Minister, brought together select Secretaries from the Government of India and Chief Secretaries from all States/UTs who proactively participated by sharing thematic best practices and policy insights”.
Skill development is also being given much emphasis in the backdrop of India having been projected by the United Nations to have overtaken China in population. India is also projected to have a rising population for the next few decades. In addition, India is signing pacts with a number of countries such as Australia, the UK, European Union for mobility of migration for the trained manpower. It may be noted that remittances to India is almost at par with the foreign direct investment in the country.
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