Mamata Banerjee on Friday left NITI Aayog meeting midway and accused the Centre of step-motherly treatment with West Bengal. NITI Aayog's 9th Governing Council meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The council, the apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all state chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers.
Speaking to the reporters, Banerjee said, "...I have come out boycotting the meeting. Chandrababu Naidu was given 20 minutes to speak, CMs of Assam, Goa, Chhattisgarh spoke for 10-12 minutes. I was stopped from speaking after just five minutes. This is unfair. From the opposition side, only I am representing here, and attending this meeting because of the greater interest that cooperative federalism should be strengthened. Even Budget also... this is political biased Budget. I said why are you discriminating against other states. NITI Aayog has no financial powers, how will it work? Give it financial powers or bring back Planning Commission..."
"...I was speaking, my mic was stopped. I said why did you stop me, why are you discriminating. I am attending the meeting you should be happy instead of that you are giving more scope to your party your government. Only I am there from the opposition and you are stopping me from speaking...This is not only the insult of Bengal but also of all regional parties..," she added.
During the conference, recommendations were made on five key themes — drinking water: access, quantity, and quality; electricity: quality, efficiency, and reliability; health: accessibility, affordability, and quality of care; schooling: access and quality and land and property: accessibility, digitisation, registration, and mutation.
A vision document is being prepared to help India become a developed economy of USD 30 trillion by 2047, the 100th year of its independence. In 2023, NITI Aayog was entrusted with the task of consolidating the 10 sectoral thematic visions into a combined vision for Viksit Bharat @2047. The vision encompasses various aspects of development, including economic growth, social progress, environmental sustainability, and good governance, among other.
