Chennai: Union Parliamentary affairs minister M. Venkaiah Naidu on Friday justified the Centre’s decision to constitute the NITI Aayog (National Institution for Transforming India) replacing the Planning Commission, and said all the states would equally benefit out of it.The Aayog will have a governing council comprising chief ministers of all states and lieutenant governors of Union Territories and they will all work towards fostering cooperative federalism. In an informal chat with reporters here he said on the recurring attacks on Tamil fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy, the Centre would take all measures to protect them.
He appealed to Opposition parties to play a constructive role and ensure a safe passage for several crucial bills in Parliament. “My appeal to the Opposition parties is to co-operate with us in passing the bills and do not play an obstructive role. It is not going to help you at all,” the senior BJP leader said.
The Opposition had stalled the passage of the key Insurance Bill in the last Parliament session paralysing the functioning of Rajya Sabha. The government has six weeks from the day Parliament meets next to get approval for the ordinances.
As the BJP-led NDA is virtually at the mercy of Opposition to get the crucial economic legislations passed in the Upper House, it is said to be exploring options including bringing the bills to convert the ordinances first in the Lok Sabha, where it has absolute majority, and convene a joint session if the need arises. It is against this backdrop, that Mr. Naidu has called upon the Opposition parties to cooperate.
