The dream to make India emerge as a USD 5 trillion economy can only be true if utilisation of the Indian local potential could be well managed. Emphasising this as the crucial time for India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday asserted that urban areas will be key in the future development and employment generation.

The prime minister was chairing the first three-day national conference of chief secretaries at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh. The conference began on June 15 and concluded on June 17.

“Every state must recognize its strength, define its targets and develop a roadmap to achieve the same. This is essential for India to become a 5-trillion-dollar economy. Urban areas will be key in future development and employment generation. Therefore, urban local bodies must be strengthened, and urban planning should be done innovatively,” PM Modi said while chairing the third day of the national conference of chief secretaries today.

To attract investment in the country, PM Modi said that the PM-GatiShakti should be appropriately implemented. He stressed the need for improving the usage of technology in all government schemes and programmes and for creating interoperability of datasets of the Centre and states.

“All new ideas and actionable points must be taken forward, incubated and institutionalized,” the PM said adding that the need of the hour is to perform, reform and transform.

Appreciating the extensive sessions, the Prime Minister said that the deliberations were useful in laying out a roadmap for the sectors. He stressed that the Centre and states work together as Team India. “The action points and fresh ideas discussed at the conference must be implemented without delay,” he said.

He also emphasized the need to ensure “minimum government and maximum governance” for the greater ease of living in India. He further said that decriminalization of minor offences should be taken up in mission mode.

He further spoke on the usage of drones in the service industry, such as for the delivery of essential drugs or horticultural products, especially in hilly areas, which would add more economic value to the farmers and service providers.

Prime Minister Modi urged the members of the meeting that all the vacancies across state government departments must be filled. “The states must identify such vacancies under each sector and fill them,” he said.

On the concluding day of the conference, sessions for improving the access to and the quality of higher education and enhancing urban governance through urban planning and municipal finance also took place, where the PM Modi asserted that the states must try to integrate anganwadis with primary schools for achieving the goals of National Education Policy.

As per the participants of the conference, the conference has helped them get insightful suggestions and new ideas.
The conference was attended by various officials including young district collectors and magistrates from the states and union territories along with various Union ministries.

Discussions on the need for greater Centre-state coordination for ensuring the saturation of government schemes and last-mile delivery and capacity building of civil servants through Mission Karmayogi also took place at the conference.

This collaborative exercise, between the Centre and the states, will be taken forward by firming up the roadmap for these three sectors through NITI Aayog’s Governing Council Meeting.

(With inputs from ANI)