Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 20, 2021, delivered opening remarks at the 6th Governing Council Meeting of NITI Aayog through video conference. Addressing the event, the Prime Minister said the basis of the country’s progress is Cooperative Federalism and today’s meeting is to brainstorm to make it more meaningful and move towards Competitive Cooperative Federalism. He said the whole country succeeded when the state and the central government worked together during the Corona pandemic. He said agenda points for today’s meeting were selected keeping in mind the highest priorities of the country.
The Prime Minister said the campaign to provide a pucca roof to every poor is also going on now. Since 2014, construction of more than 2 crore 40 lakh houses has been completed in both cities and villages put together. He said over 3.5 lakh rural houses are provided with piped drinking water within 18 months of the launch of Jal Jeevan mission. He added Bharat Net Scheme for Internet Connectivity in villages is becoming a medium for a big change. When the central and state governments work together in all such schemes, the speed of work will also increase and the benefits would also reach the last person, the PM said, according to a PIB release.
The Prime Minister said that the positive response received on this year’s budget has expressed the mood of the nation. The country has made up its mind, wants to move fast and does not want to waste time. He added the private sector of the country is coming forward with more enthusiasm in this development journey of the country. As a government, we also have to honour this enthusiasm, the energy of the private sector and give it as much opportunity in the AatmaNirbhar Bharat campaign. He said AatmaNirbhar Bharat campaign is the way to develop an India that produces not only for its own needs but also for the world and this production also stands the test of the world.
PM Modi said keeping in mind the aspirations of a young country like India, modern infrastructure has to be built. Innovation has to be encouraged and more technology should be used to provide better opportunities for education and skills. He stressed the need for strengthening our businesses, MSMEs and start-ups. He said shortlisting the products of hundreds of districts of the country according to its speciality has promoted them and also led to a healthy competition among the states. He urged to take this block wise, make full use of the resources of the states and increase the exports from the states.
The PM said the Central Government introduced PLI schemes for various sectors providing an excellent opportunity to increase manufacturing in the country. He urged the states to take full advantage of this scheme and attract maximum investment.
On the funds allocated for infrastructure in this budget, the Prime Minister said this would help the country’s economy advance many levels. He announced that there would be a major increase in the economic resources of local bodies in the 15th Finance Commission.
The Prime Minister said about Rs 65,000 crore are spent in the import of edible oils which should have gone to our farmers. Similarly, there are many agricultural products, which are not only produced for the country but can also be supplied to the world. For this, it is necessary that all states make their agro-climatic regional planning strategy. The country’s agricultural exports have increased significantly even during the Corona era, the PM added.
The PM said recently reform was done on OSP regulations which gives the youth the flexibility to work from anywhere and our tech sector has benefited immensely from this. Many of the restrictions have been eliminated. He said Geospatial data was liberalised recently. This would help our startups and tech sector and also improve the ease of living for the common man.