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KCR to boycott NITI Aayog meeting, says institution useless
KCR said he will be absent from the meeting – to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – as a “mark of protest”.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) on Saturday said he won't be attending the NITI Aayog’s seventh governing council meeting slated to be held in Delhi on Sunday. He said he will be absent from the meeting – to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi – as a “mark of protest”. In a letter to Modi, KCR expressed his anguish against the central government for not giving states the "flexibility to design and modify schemes based on their needs".
“In view of these facts, I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, 2022 and I am staying away from it as a mark of strong protest against the present trend of Central government to discriminate against the States and not treating them as equal partners in our collective effort to make the nation strong and developed,” Rao said in the letter, narrating a host of reasons for the boycott.
The NITI Aayog meeting is being held to discuss issues related to agriculture, education and economy and will be attended by chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union territories, and Union ministers among others. The meeting is being held in person for the first time since 2019. The first such meeting was held in February 2015 and it was not held in 2020 due to the pandemic.
The Telangana CM went on to allege that recent “unpleasant happenings” have given rise to a realisation that the federal structure is being systematically eroded by some "deliberate actions" by the Centre. He said these developments were very much discouraging to "trail-blazing" states like Telangana.
“The blatant discrimination against some States even in the legitimate functions assigned to them in the Constitution leaves much to be desired,” he said.
He also reminded Modi that though in the beginning the NITI Aayog had constituted a group of chief ministers to give recommendations on developmental issues, it was kept aside and on the contrary, the Centre is micromanaging the schemes giving a go-by to state-specific needs which are best left to individual States.
“It is not just in case of such schemes but Centre has also turned a Nelson's eye even to the recommendations of NITI Aayog itself...” KCR said.
He also alleged that the Centre had claimed credit for Telangana’s achievements as it is one of the States which provides drinking water to every household under the banner of Jal Jeevan Mission, a Central scheme.
"I may affirm that Niti Aayog has started with an objective of cooperative federalism, recognising that strong States make a strong nation. But, after seven years of functioning, it is now clear that this (cooperative federalism) was observed more in breach. The Centre’s actions show that the initiative has gone astray as States are not included as equal partners in the national developmental agenda,” KCR said.
KCR also mentioned the issues of falling rupee value, inflation, skyrocketing prices and increasing unemployment coupled with low economic growth that the country is battling.
He said the Centre has become a silent spectator to the problems and is resorting to playing on people’s emotions.
He alleged that though there were recommendations from NITI Aayog for a grant of ₹5,000 crore to Mission Kakatiya and Central assistance of ₹19,205 to Mission Bhagiratha, the NDA government ignored them and did not release any money for the schemes. However, the State government has completed both the projects on its own. “These examples are sufficient to say that the institution of NITI Aayog is rendered useless,” he said.
NITI Aayog in a statement dismissed the charges levelled by KCR. The Aayog said a delegation led by its vice-chairman met the Telangana chief minister in Hyderabad on January 21, 2021, to discuss development issues pertaining to the state.
"More recently, despite requests made by NITI Aayog for a meeting, the chief minister did not respond," it added.
The statement pointed out that in preparation for the August 7, 2022, Governing Council meeting, detailed consultations between the Centre and states, including Telangana, were held resulting in the first National Chief Secretaries Conference held in Dharamshala in June 2022.
"The allegation of Hon'ble CM Telangana that states were not co-opted in preparation of agenda is incorrect," it said.
The statement noted that NITI Aayog was set up as an institution with the mandate of cooperative federalism with a premise that strong states make a strong nation. "A number of measures have already been put in place to work closely with states," it said, adding that in the last year alone more than 30 meetings have been held with the chief ministers of states by the Vice Chairman, and members of NITI Aayog.
With reference to the water sector, the statement said over the last four years the Centre allocated ₹3,982 crore under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the state of Telangana. "However, the state chose to draw only ₹200 crore. In addition, ₹1,195 crores were released to Telangana under PMKSY-AIBP-CADWM during 2014-2015 to 2021-2022," it said.
The statement asserted that the Centre has been consistently supporting states in financial matters including for flagship schemes/ programmes of national importance.
(With agency inputs)
