The seventh governing council meeting of the government think tank NITI Aayog is scheduled to be held in New Delhi on Sunday but uncertainty prevails over whether Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao would participate in it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened the meeting, the first in-person meeting of the governing council after a gap of more than two years, with Chief Ministers of all States who are members of the apex body. The agenda of the meeting includes crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses, implementation of National Education Policy and urban governance among others.
There is however no clarity on whether the Chief Minister would attend the meeting or would depute one of his Cabinet colleagues or State Planning Board vice-chairman on his behalf. The development follows the strains in the relations between the State and the Central Government which are at loggerheads over several issues.
The differences came into the open with Mr. Rao staging a dharna in New Delhi in support of the State’s demand that the Centre purchase the entire paddy cultivated in Telangana. They were further accentuated after the Union Finance Ministry imposed curbs on the open market borrowings by the State citing financial management issues.
Moreover, the State has expressed dissatisfaction over the Centre not conceding the recommendation made by the highest planning body for providing funds to flagship programmes like Mission Bhagiratha. The Chief Minister has given miss to a couple of programmes attended by Mr. Modi in the State in recent past and suspense continues over his participation in the NITI Aayog meeting.
