Below we publish the remarks of Manik Sarkar, chief minister of Tripura at the third meeting of the governing council of NITI Aayog on April 23 in New Delhi.

RATIONALISATION OF CENTRALLY SPONSORED SCHEMES

All central assistance to state plan for north-eastern states should be continued on 90:10 basis. The process of release of the central share should be simplified. Government of India may release its share in two installments, the first release in April and the next after six months. States should have the flexibility in the choice of components, design and implementation of all CSS, and state level committees headed by the chief secretary should be empowered for it.

SKILL DEVELOPMENT

The Skills Development Mission being currently supported has not yet yielded results as per expectations. It can be made effective by linking skills to employment, preferably in the state or region of residence, so that people do not have to migrate to far off places. It is experienced that the youth taking jobs in far off places outside the state get low wages and also feel homesick due to different language, culture and food habits.

 SWACHH BHARAT ABHIYAN

The mission of Swachh Bharat can be fully realised in a foreseeable time frame. For the small states with a population of less than one crore, there should be a special drive to cover the entire population in a time bound manner so that they may not have to wait for the big and populous states to achieve this goal. To realise this, necessary funds may be allocated and sanctioned.

Currently, there is a disparity in subsidy provided for individual household latrines in rural (Rs 12,000) and urban  (Rs 4000) areas, which discourages off-take of the programme in urban areas. This subsidy element should be made realistic based on local cost of construction, and made uniform across rural and urban areas.

ELIMINATION OF POVERTY IN INDIA

A large section of our population has been suffering from poverty which is really painful and a matter of shame for a country like India. To pull households out of poverty, it is incumbent on a welfare State like India to provide productive assets, principally land, a decent shelter, assured education and health-care services, and a source of assured income for livelihood. This will also increase their purchasing capacity which in turn will strengthen and stimulate the internal economy of our country at large.

AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT

Increase in production and productivity in agriculture, including allied areas like horticulture, animal resources development, fisheries and forestry requires providing land to all the landless households, and its development through measures like extensive irrigation, access to fertilizers, quality seeds and modern equipments at subsidized rates. Credit linkages at a low cost are necessary for availing access to necessary inputs. Remunerative prices must be provided to help market the produce. Diversification of agriculture is very much necessary to spread the risk and help avail other opportunities.  A multi-pronged strategy on the above lines is necessary to double farmers’ incomes within a reasonable time frame.

FOOD SECURITY

The National Food Security Act casts a legal obligation on the union government. Such a legislation is necessary in a welfare State to feed the nutritionally insecure, which in our country form a large majority of the total population. Due to a ceiling imposed on the total number of beneficiaries, a large number of needy households in rural and urban areas are excluded from the benefits under this Act. This ceiling needs to be urgently relaxed so that benefits can be extended to all the deserving households. The network of public distribution system needs to be extended to every nook and corner of the country, and it should cover all required essential commodities at a subsidised cost that the public can afford. Recent developments of discontinuation of distribution of sugar through PDS, and insistence on payment of market rates in a gradual manner for kerosene have tended to discourage coverage, and adversely affected the most vulnerable segments of the society. Such anti-poor steps should be rolled back.

MGNREGA

Against an entitlement of 100 days of employment per household per year under the MGNREG Act, our country has been able to provide an average employment of 50-55 days per year since beginning and 46 days in 2016-17. While steps are needed to assure fullest access to employment to those seeking it as assured under the Act, the central government needs to raise the guarantee to 200 days of employment per household per year. The wage rate also needs to be enhanced appropriately. If this is achieved, we would also be able to make a dent on poverty. In addition, the system of payment of wages needs to be simplified to eliminate delays and inconvenience. The employment guarantee needs to be extended to urban areas also, where a large number of the poor reside in slums, often with sub-human conditions.

EMPLOYMENT

To generate productive employment for all, the central government needs to regularly fill up long standing vacancies in different departments and continue to make it a regular feature. Sale of government share in public sector undertakings, which generate large scale employment, should be halted. The government can consider other means of increasing its revenue, including by raising direct taxes. At the same time, necessary measures may be adopted to prevent evasion of taxes.

BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

The central government should take steps for the development of basic infrastructure with a special focus on rural areas, which at the same time will help increase the purchasing capacity of the common people. This will stimulate the internal market and act as a boost to the economy in general.

COORDINATION BETWEEN NITI AAYOG AND STATES

A mechanism needs to be developed for consultation and interaction between the state governments and NITI Aayog in a systematic manner to strengthen the idea of cooperative federalism and improve understanding between the centre and states.

PEACE AND TRANQUILITY

Communal harmony is a pre-requisite for strengthening peace, unity and integrity of the country. Peace is a pre-requisite for development. The communal situation of the country is, however, fragile, rather alarming. Therefore, urgent meeting of the National Integration Council is very much needed.

I believe this meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog will lead to effective steps for sorting out differences between union government and states, and chalking out a welfare oriented and people centric development agenda. Only then will NITI Aayog be able to gain people’s confidence as an agent of national transformation that it aims to become.