18.6.22

Centre, States Must Play as Team India: PM Modi

Each state must recognise its strength, set a target, and develop a roadmap to achieve it to help India to become a $5-trillion economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said. Addressing the first three-day national conference of chief secretaries that concluded on Friday in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, Modi said the Centre and states must work together as “team India” to make the country a global powerhouse with a $5-trillion economy by 2024-25.

He urged state governments to fill all vacancies across departments, an official statement said. “The prime minister said the states must identify such vacancies under each sector and fill them. ” He also called for strengthening of urban local bodies and innovative urban planning across states, saying urban areas will be key in future development of the country and employment generation.

PM Gati Shakti – a master plan for multi-modal connectivity across the country – should be appropriately implemented to attract investment in the country, he said. Modi also stressed the need for improving usage of technology in all government schemes and programmes, and for creating interoperability of data sets of the Centre and states.

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, he said. Appreciating extensive sessions of the conference that started on June 15, the prime minister said the deliberations were useful in laying out a road- map for various sectors. Action points and fresh ideas discussed at the conference must be implemented without delay, he added. 

Emphasising on minimum government and maximum governance, Modi stressed the need to ensure greater ease of living in India. He also said decriminalisation of minor offences should be taken up in mission mode, the statement said. Modi said states must optimally utilise the GeM (government e-marketplace) portal for purchases made by their departments and local bodies, which would result in time and cost savings.

To achieve the goals of the National Education Policy, he said states must try to integrate Anganwadis with primary schools.

The prime minister 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, the statement said. He appreciated the initiatives taken by the states to improve municipal finances and said states and union territories have shared unique experiences, and the ideas discussed at the conference must be incubated and institutionalised.

The prime minister recommended introduction of technology and innovative methods for increasing efficiency of tax collection and suggested that city and ward beautification competitions should be held by states.


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