PM Modi to chair national conference of chief secretaries on January 6-7

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the second national conference of chief secretaries here on January 6-7 to discuss six themes covering MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliances, women empowerment, health and nutrition, and skill development.

In a statement, the PMO said on Wednesday that the three-day conference, which begins on January 5, will host three special sessions on Developed India: Reaching the Last Mile, GST & Global Geopolitical Challenges and India's Response.

It will also witness deliberations on four topics : Vocal for Local, International Year of Millets, G20: Role of States, and Emerging Technologies, the PMO said.

Best practices from the states and UTs under each theme will be presented so that they can learn from each other, it added.

The outcome of three virtual conferences which were earlier held with states and Union Territories will also be presented in this conference.

The PMO noted that the agenda of the upcoming conference was decided after extensive deliberations between the Centre and the states and UTs in more than 150 meetings held over last three months.

It will be another key step towards further boosting the partnership between the Centre and the state governments, the PMO said, noting that the first similar conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022.

The three-day conference will focus on achieving rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the states and will witness participation of more than 200 representatives of the central government, chief secretaries and other senior officials of all states and UTs besides domain experts, it said.

"The conference will lay the ground for collaborative action for achieving a 'Viksit Bharat' with a thrust on growth and job creation and inclusive human development," the PMO said.

According to the directions of the prime minister, his office said, three virtual conferences were also held with the states and UTs on the themes of "Districts as Fulcrum of Development", "Circular Economy" and "Model UTs".

Their outcomes would also be presented in the national conference, it said.