Headlines
Planning Commission was better than NITI Aayog: Himachal CM
Shimla, May 22
Batting for the disbanded
Planning Commission, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh
said on Friday it was far better than the newly-constituted NITI Aayog
as far as the welfare of states was concerned.
"The Planning
Commission used to take up the issues of the states strongly with the
ministries concerned. I personally feel NITI Aayog has no clear
directives for special category states like Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand," he said.
Singh was speaking to visiting journalists from Chhattisgarh in an informal interaction here.
The
chief minister said besides the northeastern states, others like
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Jammu and Kashmir were also declared
as special category states and used to obtain financial assistance from
the Centre in 90:10 or 70:30 ratio.
After the commissioning of
NITI Aayog, with the prime minister as its chairman and all chief
ministers as its members, it is states like Himachal Pradesh and
Uttarakhand who are suffering the most.
Singh said there was neither any special instruction nor any clear-cut policy of assistance for these two hill states.
I
have written to the prime minister of India and have requested him to
maintain the special status of both the states because of topography
similar to the north-eastern states, the chief minister added.
When
he was asked about the future of the Congress party, Singh said that
one should not come to a conclusion if a particular party loses
elections.
"The Congress party is the century-old party and has contributed immensely in building the nation," he said.
On being asked about the functioning of the NDA government, he appreciated the "Make in India" concept.
"It would give an opportunity to the entrepreneurs to invest and produce in India," he said.