At the third meeting of the Governing Council, NITI Aayog, the CEO, NITI, Shri Amitabh Kant, apprised the gathering of the work done by Niti Aayog for transforming the economy and cooperation with States in the sectors of education, health, infrastructure etc. He spoke of the work done by the sub-groups of Chief Ministers on rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes, Swachh Bharat Mission and Skill Development. He outlined initiatives taken in areas such as agriculture, poverty elimination, health, education, digital payments, disinvestment, coastal zone and island development etc. He said that NITI will work with States to improve basic services and infrastructure, in districts and regions which require specific attention. He reiterated its resolve to facilitate partnership with States for transforming India under the framework of cooperative and competitive federalism. He requested the states to treat NITI as their outpost in Delhi.

NITI Aayog is working on a platform for sharing best practices to strengthen the learning ecosystem. It has partnered with large number of top ranking Institutions for knowledge sharing and ideation, to nurture evidence based policy making.

Vice Chairman, NITI Dr Arvind Panagariya set out the new approach which envisages a 15 year long term vision, accompanied by a 7 year strategy and a 3 year action agenda. He gave an outline of the draft Action Agenda circulated at the meeting, which had been prepared with inputs from the states. He noted that there were over 300 specific action points that had been identified, covering the whole gamut of sectors. The period of the Action Agenda coincided with the period of the 14th Finance Commission’s award. This gave stability to the funding estimates of both Centre and States. He solicited the inputs and support of the states in taking the vision forward.

Revenue Secretary Shri Hasmukh Adhia made a presentation on GST, explaining the benefits of the system and the way forward. He urged the Chief Ministers to expedite the enactment of State GST Acts.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, made a presentation on doubling of farmers’ income. He touched on areas such as irrigation, technology generation and dissemination, policy and market reforms, e-NAM, livestock productivity etc.

Member-Agriculture, NITI Aayog, Shri Ramesh Chand elaborated on some of the steps needed for doubling farmers’ income and spoke of the various elements of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana, such as Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme, Har Khet Ko Pani, and Per Drop, More Crop.

State GST enactment urged to operationalise GST and align fiscal frameworks between Centre and States. The presentation urged States to expedite enactment of State GST Acts to operationalise the GST framework and achieve fiscal alignment, and set out NITI Aayog's 15 year vision with a 7 year strategy and a 3 year Action Agenda of over 300 state informed action points aligned with the 14th Finance Commission; it also detailed measures to double farmers' income, including irrigation, technology dissemination, market reforms, e NAM, livestock productivity and key components of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana.