PM Modi asks states to get three crore children back to school

There was no mention of the three farm laws that have farmers protesting for months at the meeting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asked states to take steps to bring nearly three crore out of school children back to schools and fighting malnutrition among women and children.

Briefing reporters on the day-long meeting of the Niti Aayog Governing Council, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the prime minister stressed special measures to bring back three crore out of school children into the school system.

He said there were suggestions made to carry out a special annual survey to assess the efficacy of the steps taken in this regard.

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Kumar said the prime minister also focused on steps to improve foundational literacy and implementation of the Poshan Abhiyan 2.0 to improve nutrition, health and immunity among children and women.

During the meeting, there was no mention of the three farm laws that have farmers from Punjab and Haryana protesting for months on the borders of the national capital.

“Nobody spoke about the farm laws, but we discussed reforms in the agriculture sector,” Kumar said when asked about reports of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh calling for repeal of the farm laws.

He said Singh and Chief Ministers of Gujarat, West Bengal and Telangana were not present for the meeting.

Demands from states:

Maharashtra: Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said the state should offer better facilities and administrative efficiency to investors instead of giving out doles such as cheap land and electricity.

Goa: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the Mahadayi project could lead to drinking water shortage in the state besides affecting the flora and fauna.

Tamil Nadu: Chief Minister E K Palaniswami urged the Centre to declare the Godavari-Cauvery link initiative as a national project as it would benefit the people of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Bihar: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sought the development of a special port in Odisha to meet the cargo handling requirements of the land-locked state of Bihar. The demand was also supported by Jharkhand.