KCR to boycott NITI Aayog meet, says institution useless
new delhi: NITI Aayog on Saturday termed Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's decision to boycott the Governing Council meeting on Sunday 'unfortunate.'
Rao has decided to boycott the meeting of the Governing Council, which will be chaired Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a mark of protest against the alleged discriminatory policies of the Centre towards the states.
"It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister of Telangana has chosen not to participate in the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog to be held on August 7," the Aayog said.
The Telangana Chief Minister on Saturday told the Prime Minister that he will be boycotting the meeting as a mark of protest against the present 'discriminating' trend of the Centre towards the states.
In a strong-worded letter to Modi, KCR, as Rao is known, said India as a strong nation can develop only when the states develop.
... I do not find it useful to attend the 7th Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog scheduled to be held on August 7, 2022 and I am staying away from it as a mark of strong protest against the present trend of central government to discriminate against the states and not treating them as equal partners in our collective effort to make India a strong and developed country, Rao said in the letter.
Alleging that recent unpleasant happenings have given rise to a realisation that the federal structure is being systematically eroded by some "deliberate actions" by the Centre, Rao said it is needless to say these developments are very much discouraging to "trail-blazing" States like Telangana.
The blatant discrimination against some States even in the legitimate functions assigned to them in the Constitution leaves much to be desired, he said.
He reminded Modi that though in the beginning NITI Aayog had constituted a group of Chief Ministers to give recommendations on developmental issues, it was kept aside and on the contrary the Centre is micromanaging the schemes giving a go-by to State-specific needs which are best left to individual States.
He alleged that though there were recommendations from NITI Aayog for a grant of Rs 5,000 crore to Mission Kakatiya and Central assistance of Rs 19,205 to Mission Bhagiratha, the NDA government ignored them and did not release any money for the schemes. However, the State government has completed both the projects on its own.
These examples are sufficient to say that the institution of NITI Aayog is rendered useless, he said. NITI Aayog in a statement dismissed the charges levelled by Rao.
