Centre should not force policies on states: Mamata at NITI Aayog meet

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday emphasised that the Centre should look into the demands of the state governments "more seriously" and no policies should be forced on them.

Addressing a meeting of the Governing Council of the Niti Aayog in New Delhi, Banerjee stressed that there should be a "greater cooperation" between the Centre and the states, according to official sources.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also said that state governments should not be pressurised to implement the National Education Policy (NEP).

The West Bengal government was not keen on implementing the NEP. It constituted a 10-member committee of experts in April to examine NEP and assess the need for a state-level policy on education.

There should be greater cooperation between the Central government and the state governments, she said during her around 15-minute speech at the meeting.

This is the first physical meeting of the Governing Council since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the 2021 meeting held via video conferencing.

The meeting was attended by 23 chief ministers, three lieutenant governors, two Administrators and Union ministers.

The Governing Council discussed four key agenda items - crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in pulses, oilseeds and other agri-commodities; implementation of National Education Policy in school education; implementation of NEP in higher education; and urban governance.