Budget: National conference of chief secretaries discuss economy, jobs

New Delhi: Ahead of the Union Budget, a three-day national conference of chief secretaries from all states to deliberate on economy and jobs and inclusive human development began here on Thursday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to chair the meeting on Friday and Saturday, his office has said.

On the first day of the conference, a session was held on Developed India: Reaching the Last Mile, sources said. NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery made a presentation during the day, sources said.

The conference is broadly based on two themes -- economy and jobs and inclusive human development.

On Friday, the presentation on economy and jobs will be anchored by Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth. Alongside him, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Secretary Anurag Jain and MSME Secretary BB Swain will also make presentations, the sources said.

On the last day on Saturday, the conference will discuss inclusive human development. Presentations will be anchored by Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. Alongside him, Women and Child Development Secretary Indevar Pandey and Skill Development Secretary Atul Kumar Tiwari will make presentations.

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

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

It is 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 Dharamsala 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 Union Territories, besides domain experts, it said.