Centre, states must work together: Rajnath Singh

Underlining that the Narendra Modi government wants to promote federalism, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the country will make good progress only if the Centre and states work as a 'Team India'.

"Our government firmly believes that both the Centre and the states must have important roles to play in development of the country," Singh said while addressing the 11th Inter-State Council meeting here.

He said the Modi government in the past two years has tried to promote the spirit of federalism.

"In the past two years, our main aim has been to promote federalism, be it cooperative federalism or competitive federalism," the Home Minister added.

"Constitution of Niti Aayog after abolishing the Planning Commission was also a step forward in the same direction," Singh said, adding that with Niti Aayog coming into being the concept of "one size fits all" followed by the erstwhile Planning Commission has been done away with.

He said the country's development will remain "incomplete" if the states were not developed.

The minister also expressed satisfaction over the Zonal Councils meeting five times in 2015.

The Inter-State Council was formed in 1990, and has met only 10 times in the past 25 years. Saturday's meeting is the 11th meeting of the body.

--IANS

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