By Team Mission Telangana
Did the BJP Government live up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s idea of ‘Team India’ and actively consulted states in the economic policymaking is the big question today.
The four and a half years of Modi rule clearly suggests that the states were neglected in policy and decision making.
Modi has introduced NITI Aayog as an alternative to the planning commission.
During its inception in January 2015, he said “NITI Aayog has been formed after a wide range of consultation with the various stakeholders including the Chief Ministers. A landmark change is the inclusion of all State Chief Ministers & Lieutenant Governors of Union Territories in the NITI Aayog. This will foster a spirit of cooperative federalism,” he said.
The BJP government’s NITI Aayog today is seen as a feeble attempt in the process of inclusion of all states in policy making.
In recent times, leaders across the parties have stated that BJP had failed miserably in promoting federal spirit.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao during his press conferences mentioned that the Centre’s control over States must end.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav is another leader who accused the BJP of not consulting the states while taking any decision.
In reality, the BJP government has just proved to be ‘all bark and no bite’. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been full of big talk but lack of action when it came to consulting states and involving the Chief Ministers of the states in nation-building.
The State governments are backing out of central schemes. Ayushman Bharath is one such scheme which most of the non-BJP state governments including Telangana, Odisha, Delhi, Kerala, and Punjab have disapproved of and backed out from implementing the scheme in their state.
The states kept themselves away from Ayushman Bharath scheme as they had better health schemes already running.
The newly introduced Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi which was emulated from Telangana’s Rythu Bandhu scheme is being criticized for belittling farmers of the country.
The implementation of Ayushman Bharath and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi was the sole decision of BJP Government. This shows that BJP failed miserably in taking along all the states and union territories.