Cong CMs, WB & TN boycott NITI Aayog meeting
AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that political considerations should not come in the way of land acquisition bill that would facilitate and greater prosperity for the farmers. He said the political deadlock over the bill is seriously impacting rural development, including the construction of schools, hospitals, roads and irrigation projects.
Chairing the meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Mr. Modi said after NDA government came to power, several states had raised concerns over the implementation of the Land Acquisition Act- 2013 and they had felt that development work was suffering due to it. Mr. Modi said his government brought Land Ordinance in response to these concerns of the States.
Prime Minister added that the vision of his government, is that state units should be the focus of all development efforts saying states must move together to end poverty.
Briefing media after the meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said during the meeting many states expressed views that the Land Acquisition Act needed to be amended. He said many Chief Ministers stated that the delay in implementing the Act was slowing down development projects and suggested that the Centre should work towards evolving a consensus on the present Land Acquisition Bill.
He said an important suggestion that came in the meeting was that Centre should endeavour to create a consensus and if Centre fails to get the Bill passed, then it should be left to the states. The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of 16 states including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Bihar.
In reply to a question about the boycott by Chief Ministers of Congress ruled states and West Bengal, Mr Jaitley said those who chose to boycott must introspect whether not attending the NITI Aayog meeting is in consonance with the spirit of cooperative federalism. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha also did not attend the meeting.