NEW DELHI, 7 Aug: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong case for modernising agriculture, animal husbandry and food processing to help the country become self-sufficient and a global leader in the agriculture sector.
The prime minister also asked the states to focus on promoting 3Ts – trade, tourism and technology – with a view to reducing imports and increasing exports, said an official release after the seventh meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog.
“We should encourage people to use local goods wherever possible,” he said, adding that “‘vocal for local’ is not the agenda of an individual political party but a common goal.
India, he said, needs to “focus on modernised agriculture, animal husbandry, and food processing to become self-sufficient and a global leader in the agriculture sector.”
He further said that rapid urbanisation can become India’s strength instead of weakness by leveraging technology to ensure ease of living, transparent service delivery, and improvement in the quality of life for every citizen.
The PM also commended the collective efforts of all the states in the spirit of cooperative federalism in the fight against the Covid pandemic.
“Every state played a crucial role according to its strength and contributed to India’s fight against Covid. This led to India emerging as an example for the developing nations to look up to as a global leader,” he said.
“For the first time in India’s 75 years of independence, all of India’s chief secretaries met together in one place and deliberated on issues of national importance for three days. This collective process led to the development of the agenda for this meeting.”
The PM underlined the need for collective action to increase the collection of the goods and services tax, saying that, though the realisation has improved, “the potential is much more, and it is crucial for strengthening our economic position and becoming a USD 5 trillion economy.”
He said that the seventh meeting was a culmination of months of rigorous brainstorming and consultations between the Centre and states to identify national priorities.
In his concluding remarks, Modi said that the NITI Aayog will study the states’ concerns, challenges, and best practices and subsequently plan the way forward.
“The issues discussed in this meeting will define the national priorities for the next 25 years,” he said, adding that “the seeds we sow today will define the fruits reaped by India in 2047.”
Modi also spoke about India’s G20 presidency in 2023, saying “we should develop a mass movement around G20. This will allow us to identify the best talent available in the country.”
G20 is a grouping of developed and developing nations and India will be the chair of the grouping in 2023.
This was the first physical meeting of the governing council since the onset of the pandemic, with the 2021 meeting held via video conference.
The meeting was attended by 23 chief ministers, three lieutenant governors and two administrators and union ministers, and moderated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said that combined efforts of the Centre and states are needed to realise the vision of a resurgent India post the pandemic. (PTI)