Arun Jaitley to finalise Niti Aayog's three-year action agenda, will meet chief ministers to discuss framework

New Delhi: Finance minister Arun Jaitley will meet chief ministers on Thursday to finalise the 3-year action agenda. The draft was already circulated at NITI Aayog’s third Governing Council meeting in April. [caption id=“attachment_3937565” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Finance minister Arun Jaitley. AFP[/caption] Several chief ministers have already submitted their comments on the draft framework to the policy think-tank, a senior official said on Monday. Once finalised by the Aayog after taking inputs from the chief ministers, it will be referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the chairman, he added. The draft paper had suggested a host of reforms in taxation, agriculture and energy sectors, with an aim to accelerate growth and increase employment opportunities. There is also a focus on the need for recalibrating the role of the government by limiting its involvement in activities that do not serve any public purpose. Among other things, the Aayog had suggested the closure of loss-making CPSEs and strategic disinvestment in 20 state-owned companies. The three-year agenda (2017-18 to 2019-20) calls for steps to check tax evasion, expand tax base and simplify taxation system through reforms. It had suggested that the government should consider consolidating existing customs duty rates to a unified one. Other suggestions include creation of an institutional mechanism to promote competition through comprehensive review and reform of government regulations across all sectors, besides strengthening of the public procurement system. The policy body plans to come out with three documents — 3-year action agenda, 7-year medium-term strategy paper and 15-year vision document.