Virbhadra Singh praise planning commission over Niti Aayog
Chief minister Virbhadra Singh despite not being convinced with Niti Aayog, stating that it has no directive about special status for Himachal and Uttarakhand, lauded the Centre for its 'Make in India' concept.
Chief minister Virbhadra Singh despite not being convinced with Niti Aayog, stating that it has no directive about special status for Himachal and Uttarakhand, lauded the Centre for its 'Make in India' concept.
Feeling the pinch of virtual scrapping of the special status from the state, the CM on Friday praised planning commission over NITI Aayog. "The planning commission was way better as far as the welfare of the states is concerned and it took up the issues strongly with the ministries concerned, whereas Niti Aayog, I personally feel, has no clear directives for special status states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand," Singh said, while interacting with the Chhattisgarh Vidhan Sabha Press Advisory Committee, which met the chief minister at his official residence here on Friday.
However, on being asked about the functioning of NDA government, Virbhadra appreciated 'Make in India' concept. He said it would give an opportunity to the entrepreneurs to invest and produce in India.
Virbhadra said north eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir were, which were given special states, used to get financial assistance from the Centre in 90:10 or 70:30 ratio, but with Niti Aayog replacing the planning commission, the worst states that were suffering were Himachal and Uttarakhand.
"There is separate 'donor ministries' for the north eastern states, whereas Jammu and Kashmir was getting the special assistance because of its special status granted way back," he said, adding that there were neither any special instructions nor any clear policy of assistance for the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
"I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and have requested him to maintain the special status for both the states because of similar geographical topography matching north eastern states," said the chief minister.