Mentioning that the chief ministers are the “hopes and aspirations of the people of India”, the Prime Minister said his government is going to give the states Rs. 11 lakh crore which is an increase of Rs. 6 lakh crore from the last year of the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. He also urged all states to work as ‘Team India’ since ‘India has no shortage of capabilities, capacities and resources.’
Stating that Indian economy has witnessed a growth of 7.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2017-18, Modi said that the challenge is to reach the growth rate to double digit mark soon. He said schemes like Mudra Yojana, Jan Dhan Yojana and Stand Up India had started to boost Indian economy at a large scale.
He also announced a set of objectives including development of aspirational districts, Ayushman Bharat, Mission Indradhanush, Nutrition Mission, doubling of farmers’ income to make a ‘New India’ by 2022. Apart from that, the government is also trying to cover the entire nation under schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Saubhagya, Ujala program, Jan Dhan Yojana, Jeevan Jyoti Yojana, Suraksha Bima Yojana, and Mission Indradhanush, he said.
The Prime Minister also assured that his government will provide health assurance worth Rs. 5 lakh to 10 crore families every year.
Earlier, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee refused to attend the meeting due to Eid-ul-fitar celebration in the state. Later, she along with other chief ministers from opposition parties such as Chandrababu Naidu, Pinarayi Vijayan, H D Kumaraswamy attended the meeting.
However, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu came down heavily on Modi government for not fulfilling the promises in the last four years. Naidu took up the issues of Special Category Status (SCS) which was supported by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Stating that people of Andhra Pradesh were against the bifurcation, he said Andhra Pradesh is struggling to match other southern state in terms of development.
Also, Banerjee, Naidu along with Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan and Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy urged Modi to solve the on-going crisis of Delhi government with CM Arvind Kejriwal staging protest in the Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal’s residence over alleged ‘strike’ by the IAS officers.
