New Delhi: PM Modi will lead the fifth meeting of the Steering Council of the NITI Aayog on Saturday. The meeting will deliberate on the drought situation, crisis in the agriculture sector, rain water harvesting and preparations for kharif crop. According to an official statement, the five-point agenda of the meeting also includes aspiring district programs, changes in agriculture and security issues. The meeting will focus on the naxal affected districts in particular.

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The meeting will be attended by the Chief Ministers of the states, Deputy Governors of Union Territories, several Union Ministers and senior government officials. This is the first meeting of the Steering Council in the new Narendra Modi government. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee has refused to attend the meeting. Mamata says that the NITI Aayog does not have financial powers to support the state plans, so the exercise of such a meeting is infructuous.

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The members of the PM Modi-led Steering Council include the Cm of the States, the Vice-Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of the Policy Commission, besides the Ministers of Finance, Home, Defence, Agriculture, Commerce and Rural Development. The Steering Council meeting reviews the action taken on previous meetings and also sets priorities for future development. So far, four meetings of the Steering Council led by PM Modi have been held.