PM Modi chairs the second Chief Secretaries conference

PM Modi on Friday chaired the national conference of Chief Secretaries focused on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the states.

The three-day conference began yesterday. The idea behind this conference is that cooperative federalism, through Central Ministries and departments working together with States in seamless coordination, is an essential pillar for the development and progress of New India.

The conference was held for the first time in June 2022 in Dharamshala. This year, the National Conference of Chief Secretaries is being held from January 5 and will conclude on January 7. comprising representatives of the central government, chief secretaries and other senior officials of all States/Union Territories and domain experts, More than 200 bureaucrats are participating in the conference, said the statement from Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

This is not the first time that PM Modi has tried to leverage Cooperative Federalism to usher in efficiency and synergy to respond to many of India’s intractable challenges. In the last 8 years, PM Modi has worked to make the process of policy-making and implementation more collaborative and consultative, thus making India more federally governed.

The statement listed numerous occasions where PM Modi took steps to strengthen the federal structure of India and improve centre-state relations. The Aspirational Districts Program was launched by PM Modi in January 2018 with the objective of expediting the transformation of the most backward districts across the country through the convergence of government programmes and schemes.
The broad strategy of the Aspirational Districts Programme included: Convergence – between Central and State Schemes; Collaboration – between Centre, State, District Administration, Development Partners and Citizens; and Competition – between Districts.

Taking a significant step in this direction, the government decided to increase states’ share in the divisible pool of taxes from 32% to 42%. This provided states with more resources to design and implement programmes as per their requirement and need, the statement said.

Recently, the PM chaired the second meeting of the Council on 30th December via video conferencing despite the passing away of his mother. PM Modi had also addressed the ‘Chintan Shivir’ of Home Ministers of States in October 2022, where the PM said “Chintan Shivir is a prime example of cooperative federalism”