New Delhi, (PTI)
With Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairing the ongoing second national conference of chief secretaries, official sources on Friday said the government has heralded a “new era of cooperative federalism” by making the process of policy making and implementation more collaborative and consultative.
The chief secretaries conference is aimed at rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with states in coordination as the prime minister believes that this is an essential pillar for the development and progress of new India, they said. With this vision in mind, Modi had conceptualised this conference, which was held for the first time last year in Dharamshala, they noted and cited several programmes and instances in which he has tried to leverage cooperative federalism.
The Centre and states have been working together in “Aspirational Districts Programme”, launched by Modi in January 2018 to fast-track development in most backward districts across the country through the convergence of government programmes and schemes. The Modi government has also worked to increase states’ share in divisible pool of tax resources, the sources said.
Having been a chief minister for close to 13 years himself, Modi knows that the key to development for states is availability of sufficient resources. Taking a significant step in this direction, his government took the decision to increase states’ share in the divisible pool of taxes from 32 per cent to 42 per cent. This has provided them more resources to design and implement programmes as per their needs, they said.
Another example is the GST Council where both the Centre and states are partners in decision-making. The workings of the council is an example of fiscal federalism with reliance on decision making through consensus, they said.
Modi has also initiated the unique concept of Pragati, the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based multi-modal platform for “Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation” (Pragati), involving the Centre and states.
The unique initiative brings the highest officials of central government (secretary), state government (chief Secretary) and other officials on one table along with the prime minister, all working together to improve the implementation timelines of various government programmes and schemes. The whole exercise is designed to provide fillip to the spirit of cooperative federalism, the sources said.
They noted that prime ministers used to attend annual DGP conferences but over the years it had become “routine” and involved their mostly “symbolic” presence. However, Modi makes it a point to attend all sessions of the conference and encourages free and informal discussions with top police officials. He has also ensured that these meetings are taken out of Delhi and are held in states.
This has helped develop a congenial environment for state heads of police to learn from best practices and work towards finding solutions to major law and order issues facing the country, the sources said.
Modi also addressed the “Chintan Shivir” of home ministers of states in October 2022 and spoke at the national conference of environment ministers in Gujarat via video conferencing in September.
He inaugurated the “Centre-State Science Conclave” in Ahmedabad in September, a first-of-its-kind conclave. Recently, he went to Shillong to attend the meeting of the North Eastern Council on the occasion of the golden jubilee celebration of the council.
The Modi government is regularly holding meetings of the zonal councils for strengthening and promoting cooperative federalism in the country, the sources said. He also addressed the national conference of labour ministers of all states and union territories in August.
Recently, Modi chaired the second meeting of the National Ganga Council and addressed the first “All India Annual State Ministers Conference” on water.
With India now chairing the G20 group of countries and set to host its meetings across the year, the prime minister chaired a meeting of the governors and chief ministers of states and lieutenant governors of union territories on December 9 to discuss aspects relating to it, the sources said.
These meetings will be held all across the country to showcase different cultures, customs and cuisines on the global stage, highlighting his emphasis on taking along all states in this endeavour, they said.
Modi has also “pioneered” post-budget webinar meetings with different ministries and stake-holders for effective implementation of budget provisions. These webinars see participation of state level officers also so that states can leverage budget related initiatives in an effective manner, they said. PTI KR ZMN
(This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. Dainik Hind mitra holds no responsibility for its content.)
