Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the national conference of Chief Secretaries focused on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the states, in the national capital on Friday.

The idea behind the three-day conference which began yesterday is that cooperative federalism, through Central Ministries and departments working together with States in seamless coordination, is an essential pillar for the development and progress of New India.

With this vision in mind, PM Modi conceptualized this conference, which was held for the first time in June 2022 in Dharamshala. More than 200 bureaucrats comprising representatives of the central government, chief secretaries and other senior officials of all States/Union Territories and domain experts, are participating in the conference, said the statement from Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

According to PMO officials, this is not an isolated example when PM Modi has tried to leverage cooperative federalism to usher in efficiency and synergy in order to respond to many of India’s intractable challenges. Glancing back to the past eight years clearly indicates how PM Modi has worked to make the process of policymaking and implementation more collaborative and consultative, thus making India more federally governed.

“The Centre and states working together in Aspirational Districts Programme is one example. The programme seeks to expedite the transformation of the most backward districts across the country through the convergence of government programmes and schemes,” PMO sources said, as reported by The Tribune.

The report cites PMO officials referring to increasing states’ share in divisible pool of tax resource as another example of Centre-state cooperation, apart from the establishment of the GST Council to ensure fiscal federalism.

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