New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the eight Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog on May 27. The meeting will deliberate on several issues including, health, skill development, women empowerment and infrastructure development, with an aim to make India a developed nation by 2047.


"NITI Aayog will be organising its 8th Governing Council Meeting on the theme of 'Viksit Bharat @ 2047: Role of Team India' on May 27, 2023," the Aayog said in a statement.


Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has decided to skip the meeting, PTI reported citing a senior official at the state secretariat.


The decision came a day after the TMC announced that it will boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building in De;hi On May 28.


"The Bengal CM may not be participating in the Niti Aayog scheduled in New Delhi on May 27," the bureaucrat said.


Banerjee had earlier this month expressed interest in participating in the meeting and said that she will highlight the issue of the state which being allegedly deprived by the Centre.


She had then said, "I will be participating at the Niti Ayog meeting on May 27 in New Delhi because it is the only platform to highlight the issues of a state".


The apex body of NITI Aayog, includes all chief ministers, lieutenant governors of Union Territories, and several Union ministers.


The Aayog in a statement noted that as the world's fifth largest economy and the most populous nation, India is at a stage in its economic development trajectory where it can achieve accelerated growth over the next 25 years.


In this context, the statement said the 8th Governing Council Meeting provides an opportunity to create a roadmap for Viksit Bharat by 2047 in which Centre and states can work together as Team India.


"Eight prominent themes will be discussed, including Viksit Bharat@2047, thrust on MSMEs, infrastructure and investments, minimising compliances, women empowerment, health and nutrition, skill development, and Gati Shakti for area development and social infrastructure," the statement said.


According to the statement, as a prelude to the 8th Governing Council meeting, the 2nd Chief Secretaries Conference was held in January 2023 where these themes were extensively discussed.


Wide-ranging stakeholder consultations and brainstorming sessions with subject experts, academia and practitioners were held prior to the Conference in order to gain well-rounded grassroot-level perspectives, it added.