Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Saturday chair the fifth meeting of the Niti Aayog's Governing Council which will focus on issues like the drought situation, farm distress, rain-water harvesting and preparedness for Kharif crops.
The Congress sources said that Kamal Nath, who will arrive in the national capital on Friday, will host the dinner later in the night.
The meeting, to be held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, will be attended by chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials.
In the wake of sharp criticism from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on the alleged failure of NITI Aayog, the government now seems more determined to take the Aayog to a new height.
The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, in her letter, wrote that she was not attending the meeting because the NITI Aaayog did not have any financial powers and the power to support state plans. Hence, it was "fruitless for me to attend the meeting", she added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday approved reconstitution of policy think tank Niti Aayog, renaming Rajiv Kumar as its vice chairman and appointing Home Minister Amit Shah as ex-officio member.
The council, the apex body of Niti Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of union territories, several union ministers and senior government officials.
The member added that there are no quality concerns yet.
The Election Commission has found no violation of the poll code in Niti Aayog sharing data with the prime minister's office on places where PM Narendra Modi was set to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections.
Kumar had slammed the Congress' anti-poverty scheme Nyay, saying that its cost at 2 per cent of the GDP and 13 per cent of the Budget will ensure that the real needs of the people remained unsatisfied.
In his comments, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar had said Rahul Gandhi's promise of minimum income guarantee to poor is unimplementable.
Sources in the poll panel said, since Kumar is part of "bureaucratic executive", such remarks may be violative of the model code.
Kumar also opposed the idea of Universal Basic Income, often advocated by former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian, saying he favoured incentives for population to work.
"Government did not release the data (on jobs) as it is still being processed. When the data is ready we will release it," Rajiv Kumar said today.
The validity of e-Visa (except e-Conference visa) is 60 days from the date of arrival in India. In case of e-Conference visa, the validity is 30 days.
The think tank on Wednesday came out with a national strategy for new India, which defines objectives for 2022-23.
It noted that reforms in civil services are a continuous process and several initiatives have been taken in recent years by the present government.
The NITI Aayog has called for accelerating the establishment of 1,50,000 Health and Wellness Centres (HWCs) under the Ayushman Bharat programme.
However, he said short-term measures might be required in some states that are facing real farm distress.
Kumar’s statement assumes significance as it comes in the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi pressing the government on the issue, saying he will not let Prime Minister Narendra Modi sleep until a loan waiver is given to all farmers.
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