Govt Shouldn’t Force Policies On State Govts: Mamata At NITI Aayog Meet

Mumbai: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Sunday said the Centre should look into the demands of state governments “more seriously” and no policies should be forced on them.

According to official sources, while addressing the Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog in New Delhi, Banerjee stressed that there should be “greater cooperation” between the Center and the states.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also said that state governments should not be pressured to implement the National Education Policy (NEP).

The West Bengal government was not inclined to implement the NEP. It constituted a 10-member committee of experts in April to examine the NEP and assess the need for a state-level policy on education.

There should be greater cooperation between the central government and state governments, he said during his nearly 15-minute speech at the meeting.

With the 2021 meeting held via video conferencing, this is the first physical meeting of the Governing Council since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting was attended by 23 Chief Ministers, three Lieutenant Governors, two Administrators and Union Ministers.

The Governing Council discussed four key agenda items – crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds and other agri-commodities; Implementation of the National Policy on Education in School Education; Implementation of NEP in Higher Education; and urban governance.

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