Revive Inter-State Council

Institution can give substance to slogan of co-operative federalism

Last week, the prime minister chaired the fifth meeting of the Governing Council of the NITI Aayog, where many issues of national importance, involving coordination between the Centre and the state governments, were discussed. However, not all chief ministers attended the meeting — three were absent. One of those chief ministers, Mamata Banerjee of West Bengal, wrote to the prime minister, saying that attending the NITI Aayog meeting was “fruitless” because the body had no powers to support state plans, as distinct from the now defunct Planning Commission. While Ms Banerjee’s refusal may have a great deal to do with