Mamata unhappy with Centre setting agenda of council meeting

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today objected to the agenda set by the Centre on inter-state council without discussing with states and said state governments should have been consulted before finalising it.
"If you have organised inter-state meeting you have set the agenda in advance too. You didn't ask what should be the agenda from us. If state governments were asked they would have given the agenda, I talked about this in the meeting," Mamata said outside Rashtrapati Bhawan after the 11th inter-state council meeting.
She said earlier states had opportunities to discuss in Planning Commission meeting but now with the commission becoming Niti Ayog there is less chance of discussion.

"After ten years, this inter state council is being called, I said we have chance to speak in Planning Commission, but it was lifted up. In Niti Ayog too, we take meeting on one item.... They don't listen to us, there is nothing in Niti Ayog too.
"So there is no platform for discussing state issues, there's is no way, earlier we (had) planning commission (which) used to set plan for the state, now there is no chance for it also," Mamata said.
Raising the debt issue, she said "we have issues even after the four points (agenda) you (centre) raised. Like in major states of India, not only Bengal, Kerala or Punjab, all are in a debt trap".