'Transforming India': PM Narendra Modi to meet Chief Secretaries; Niti Aayog to announce best, worst performing states

New Delhi: PM Narendra Modi will on Monday meet top officials of all states and union territories to review and expedite development work as less than two years remain for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Soon after coming back from his foreign visit, Modi plunged into work and had a detailed discussion with key officials for over an hour on Sunday about the conference on 'States as Drivers for Transforming India'.

The PM, according to ANI report, will preside over the meeting, which will be attended by chief secretaries and other officials of all states and UTs. 

#NewsfromNITI: National Conference of Chief Secretaries of all States/UTs, today! PM @narendramodi to be part of the conference. pic.twitter.com/e2EgYU2E9a — NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) July 10, 2017

State officials are crucial for successful implementation of key schemes at the grassroots level.

This is not Modi's first direct interaction with state-level officials as the PM has been regularly interacting with them on the PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation) platform for monitoring of development works.

States' performance on development indicators will also be released at the conference as the Centre is keen to fast-track projects to remove regional imbalances and disparity by ensuring better Centre-state coordination. 

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant is also likely to announce the best performing and worst performing states based on different development parameters during a presentation which is will be made before the PM.

Agriculture reforms to address agrarian unrest across the country and universal health coverage will be discussed at the day-long meeting along with issues such as less-cash economy, ranking on the basis of ease of doing business and direct benefits transfer.