Mamata to skip June 15 NITI Aayog meet, terming her attendance as fruitless

She said NITI Aayog was formed without consulting state chief ministers, and lacks financial powers to assist states based on their need assessment and support their annual financial plans

Citing her support for strengthening the Inter-State Council, West Bengal chief minister, Mamata Banerjee has decided to skip the June 15 NITI Aayog meeting claiming that this government think-tank is bereft of any financial powers and cannot support state’s financial plans.

Terming her attendance to be “fruitless”, Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating, “The experience of the last four and a half years we had, with the NITI Aayog, brings me back to my earlier suggestion to you that we focus on the Inter-State Council (ISC), with appropriate modifications, to enable ISC to discharge its augmented range of