Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday again called for widespread consultation on simultaneous elections in the country during the fourth governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog. The meeting was attended by the Chief Ministers of 23 States, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and senior Union Ministers.
“The Prime Minister called for widespread debate and consultations on simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas, keeping in view aspects such as the resulting financial savings and better utilisation of resources,” an official statement said.
Reacting to Mr. Modi's speech, the Congress accused the government of “telling half-truths and building tall tales.”
Finance panel row
Briefing the media after the meeting, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said as a result of being in a “perpetual election” mode, the focus on development was diluted.
On amending the terms of reference of the 15th Finance Commission as raised by some States, Mr. Kumar said, “Those who are already born, they should be given what is rightfully theirs… For all such devolutions, the current population [as per 2011 census] should be the basis.”
He, however, added that Mr. Modi had asked States to give “fresh ideas” to the Commission for incentivising outcome-based allocations and expenditure correction.
“He (the PM) emphasised that the Finance Commission devolution formula has to take cognizance of the relative backwardness and low per capita incomes of some States,” an official statement said.
States like Andhra Pradesh, have demanded that 1971 census be used as reference for 15th Finance Commission as to not penalise States which have worked towards controlling population.
During the meeting, which did not see representation from Delhi, Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura, Mr. Modi called upon States to fix “ambitious growth targets” for their economies as India looks to become a $5 trillion economy soon.
Mr. Kumar said chief ministers of northeastern States could not participate due to the flood situation in their respective States.
However, he added that no response was received from Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on the invitation sent to him.
The Prime Minister assured all central assistance to flood-affected States.
Additionally, the PM has suggested that a committee of seven Chief Ministers— from Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim, Gujarat, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, be set up to make recommendations on leveraging MNREGA in the agriculture sector.
Mr Modi also asked States to explore opportunities to increase corporate investment in agriculture, such as in food processing, warehousing and logistics.
Pointing that the Indian economy has grown at a healthy rate of 7.7% in the fourth quarter of 2017-18, Mr Modi added that the challenge before India is to take the economic growth rate to double-digits for which many more steps needed to be taken.
“He said in the current financial year, States are receiving over ₹11 lakh crore from the Centre, which represents an increase of about ₹6 lakh crore, from the last year of the previous government,” as per the statement.
Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram too attacked the government for the high fuel prices and said it was "robbing Rs 13,000 crore from the people every time it increased fuel prices by one rupee."
In a series of tweets, Congress communication chief said PM Modi presented GDP figures.of only one quarter.
"Instead of ‘Jumlas’, Modiji should tell why did the GDP fall steeply to 6.7% in 2017-18 despite changing the GDP calculation methodology? Was it because of his Disastrous DeMo & Flawed GST?"asked Mr Surjewala.