Each state must recognise its strength and define a target as this is crucial for India to become a USD 5-trillion economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday.
PM Modi was chairing the first three-day national conference of chief secretaries, which concluded on Friday at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. The conference began on June 15.
“Had productive deliberations during today’s proceedings at the National Conference of Chief Secretaries. We exchanged views on important policy issues including leveraging technology and strengthening our economy,” the prime minister said in a tweet.
Appreciating the extensive sessions, the prime minister said the deliberations were useful in laying out a roadmap for the sectors, an official statement said.
“The prime minister said every state must recognise its strength, define its targets and develop a roadmap to achieve the same. This is essential for India to become a 5-trillion-dollar economy,” the statement said, quoting PM Modi.
In 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi envisioned to make India a USD 5-trillion economy and global powerhouse by 2024-25.
Urban areas will be key in future development and employment generation, the statement said, adding that therefore, urban local bodies must be strengthened, and urban planning should be done innovatively.
To attract investment in the country, PM Modi said the PM-Gati Shakti should be appropriately implemented and urged that all vacancies across state government departments must be filled.
“The prime minister said the states must identify such vacancies under each sector and fill them,” the statement said.
He also stressed the need for improving the usage of technology in all government schemes and programmes and for creating interoperability of data sets of the centre and states.
He said that all new ideas and actionable points must be taken forward, incubated and institutionalised. He said the need of the hour is to perform, reform and transform. According to the statement, PM Modi stressed that the centre and states work together as Team India.
The action points and fresh ideas discussed at the conference must be implemented without delay, he added.
Emphasising on minimum government and maximum governance, the statement said the prime minister stressed the need to ensure greater ease of living in India. He also said that decriminalisation of minor offences should be taken up in mission mode.
PM Modi said states must optimally utilise the Government e-Marketplace(GeM) portal for purchases made by their departments and local bodies, which would result in time and cost savings. According to the statement, in order to achieve the goals of the National Education Policy, the prime minister said the states must try to integrate Anganwadis with primary schools.
PM Modi also spoke on the usage of drones in the service industry, such as for the delivery of essential drugs or horticultural products especially in hilly areas, which would add more economic value to the farmers and service providers.
He also appreciated the initiatives being taken by the states to improve municipal finances and said the states and Union Territories have shared unique experiences, and the ideas discussed at the conference must be incubated and institutionalised.
PM Modi recommended the introduction of technology and innovative methods for increasing the efficiency of the collection of taxes and also suggested that city and ward beautification competitions should be held by the states.
The statement said that after careful deliberation, suggestions were put forth to work in the areas of agriculture, education and urban governance. Innovative ideas and best practices were discussed for improving citizens’ welfare.
This collaborative exercise, between the centre and the states, will be taken forward by firming up the roadmap for these three sectors through NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting where chief ministers and administrators of all states and union territories will be present, the statement added.
On the third day, sessions on improving access to and quality of higher education and enhancing urban governance through urban planning and municipal finance were held.
According to the statement, discussions were also held on the need for greater centre-state coordination for ensuring the saturation of government schemes and last-mile delivery and capacity building of civil servants through Mission Karamayogi.
