PM Modi to meet state chief secretaries to push development agenda

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to meet all chief secretaries together on Monday, probably for the first time, to fast-track all-round development of states by taking a cohesive approach.

Modi will interact with “Chief Secretaries of all States/ UTs in the National Conference of Chief Secretaries being organised by the Niti Aayog to further the spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism on Monday, July 10,” said a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

“Chief Secretaries from 30 states/UTs along with planning secretaries, finance secretaries, health secretaries, agriculture secretaries and industry secretaries will attend the conference,” it added.

The statement said the deliberations will cover a wide range of issues.

“The focus will be on best practices in social and economic sectors across States.

“Various developmental indicators developed by NITI Aayog, in the areas of health, education, water management and digital transformation will be discussed to measure performance and progress of States and rank them appropriately to instill healthy competition among them,” it said.

In addition, interactive sessions on ‘Agricultural Reforms’, ‘Health & Nutrition’ and ‘Developmental issues’ have been planned, it said.

“Discussions on the financial position of the states/UTs post Fourteenth Finance Commission, outcome based monitoring, DBT implementation and its progress, ease of doing business figure as key element of the agenda of the  day-long National Conference,” it said.

Also Read | Air India: PM Narendra Modi pushes for quick sale of airline; break-up also an option

According to sources, Niti Aayog Member Bibek Debroy will make a presentation on ‘An analysis of financial position of states, post 14^th Finance Commission’. He will also speak about ‘Re-engineering the government’ that can improve delivery by states.

Quality Council of India Chairman Adil Zainlubhai is scheduled to address the audience on ‘Moving away from inputs to outcomes and their monitoring on dashboards’ to set the tone for outcome-based budgets and online monitoring of public finance management.

Many other issues are also set to come up for discussion, which include less-cash economy, ranking on the basis of ease of doing business, direct benefit transfer, agriculture, health and nutrition, targeting Olympic medals, promotion of electric vehicles and leveraging e-marketplace by states.

States would list out their best practices and put on table different issues handled by them in the most efficient and effective manner.

Andhra Pradesh, for one, will give a presentation on online management of outcome-based public finance system on a real-time basis. Similarly, Rajasthan will give out details on its electronically managed public distribution system, ‘e-PDS’, for efficient public service delivery under Annapoorana Bhandar Yojana.

Also Read: Fill the system with energy of 'New India': PM Modi to IAS Officers of 2015 batch

Positive impact of cash payment under a nutrition programme in Bihar and a presentation by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation on public-private partnership for setting up drinking water and sewage treatment plants are part of the broader agenda too.