PM to chair NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting today

New Delhi, April 22 (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Sunday chair the third meeting of NITI Aayog’s Governing Council which will deliberate on the 15-year Vision Document to accelerate the country’s economic development.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya will make a presentation on roadmap for rapid transformation of India by outlining key aspects of the document, comprising a 7-year strategy paper and a 3-year action plan, an official statement said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will talk about the strategy for doubling farmers’ income.
The Council, which includes all Chief Ministers, NITI Aayog’s members and special invitees, will also discuss the progress made towards the implementation towards Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1.
“During the meeting, action taken on decisions of the earlier two meetings of the Governing Council held on February 8, 2015 and July 15, 2015 respectively will be discussed in detail,” the statement said.
This time, the day long meeting of the Council will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
At the Council’s first meeting on February 8, 2015, the prime minister had laid down the key mandates of NITI Aayog such as fostering cooperative federalism by addressing national issues through mutual cooperation and monitoring of important schemes and programs.
It was also decided that the Aayog will act as the “think tank” of the government and work as a bridge between the centre and the states. Later, sub-groups of chief ministers and two task forces, one on elimination of Poverty in India and other on Agriculture Development were set up.
The second meeting of council on July 15, 2015 reviewed the progress made by the three sub-groups of chief ministers and the two task forces.
The policy-making body has been mandated to come up with a 15-year vision document for a period up to 2030, which will be co-terminus with sustainable development goals.
The NITI Aayog has also been working on a 7-year strategy for 2017-18 to 2023-24 to convert the vision document into implementable policy and action as part of the National Development Agenda.
It has also prepared a draft of the 3-year action plan for 2017-18 to 2019-20, which will be aligned with the 14th Finance Commission award period.

Odisha to raise special status demand at NITI Aayog meet
Bhubaneswar, April 22 (IANS): Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said he will raise the state’s longstanding demand for a Special Category status at a NITI Aayog meeting scheduled in Delhi on Sunday.
“I will demand the Special Category status for Odisha. Besides, I will seek appointments with certain central ministers to discuss issues related to Odisha,” the Chief Minister said before leaving for Delhi on a five-day visit.
The meeting of the NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog Governing Council, the top decision-making body headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The Chief Minister, who is also President of Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal, however said he has no plan to hold discussions on coming elections to the posts of the President and Vice-President.
Patnaik’s Delhi visit, the second in a month, assumes significance amid speculation that the opposition parties are planning to field a united candidate for these elections.