PM to chair reconstituted Niti Aayog's 1st Gov Council

In the backdrop of Niti Aayog's caution that 21 cities of India, including Bangalore and national capital Delhi, will run out of groundwater by 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is chairing an important meeting of the policy think tank's Governing Council, the main agenda of which includes optimum use of scarce water.

This is the first meeting of the Governing Council after the Niti Aayog was re-constituted earlier this month. The Council, along with chief ministers of states and lieutenant governors of union territories, who are also its members and, key union ministers, will discuss and set development priorities of the country after a resounding victory of BJP-led NDA in the recent national elections.

The post-lunch meeting is being held in the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will, however, be absent in today's meeting. She has informed the prime minister about her decision, calling the main policy think tank of the government a powerless body, whose meetings are “fruitless”.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao may also skip the meeting as he is preoccupied with issues related to state administration. But he is likely to send some representative from the state.

The meeting will discuss threadbare the drought situation in parts of the country, use of rainwater in harvesting, farm distress and security concerns of Naxal-affected districts. Other items in the agenda are a review of aspirational district programme and structural reforms in agriculture.

The Governing Council of NITI Aayog comprises the Prime Minister of India, chief ministers of all the states and Union Territories with legislatures and Lt Governors of other Union Territories, and other special invitees.

It is the premier body tasked with evolving a shared vision of national development priorities, sectors and strategies with the active involvement of states in shaping the development narrative.

Union ministers of defence, minister of home affairs, minister of finance and corporate affairs, minister of agriculture and farmers welfare, rural development and Panchayati raj, as ex-officio members; vice-chairman, CEO and senior officers of NITI Aayog; and minister of road transport and highways, and micro, small and medium enterprises, minister of social justice and empowerment, minister of railways and commerce and industry, minister of state (independent charge) of ministry of statistics and programme implementation and ministry of planning, will be attending the event as special invitees to the Governing Council.

Special invitees also include the national security adviser, minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, minister of Jal Shakti and the Minister of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries.