Rashtrapati Bhavan hosts two-day Conference of Governors

A two-day Conference of Governors and Lieutenant Governors has begun at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday. With President Ram Nath Kovind presiding over the conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Venkaiah Naidu are also present at the event.

The second session will see briefings and presentations on flagship programmes of the Government of India and on internal security. Presentations will be made by the Vice Chairman and the CEO of NITI Aayog as well as by the National Security Advisor.

Later, the third session will focus on the topic of higher education in state universities and skill development for employability. The Governor of Gujarat is scheduled to be the convener of this session. Presentations will be made by the Secretary, Higher Education and the Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion.

In the fourth session, Governors and Lieutenant Governors will discuss steps taken on the report 'Rajyapal – Vikas Ke Rajdoot: Catalytic Role of Governors as Agents for Change in Society'. This report was submitted by the Committee of Governors to the President on January 9, 2018. The Committee was constituted during the 48th Conference of Governors in October 2017. The Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will convene this session.

On Tuesday, the fifth session of the Conference of Governors will discuss ideas on how to commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. During this session, presentations will be made on Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and Swachhata Internship and Governors will make suggestions. The Governor of Uttar Pradesh shall be the convenor of this session.

In the sixth and concluding session, brief presentations on the deliberations in the previous thematic sessions will be made by the convenor Governors.

President Kovind, Vice President Naidu, Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will address the concluding session.

Apart from this, a special session on Union Territories is scheduled on Tuesday in which Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories will discuss status of implementation of various flagship programmes. The Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary and other senior officials will be part of the meeting.

The Vice President; Prime Minister; Union Ministers of Home Affairs; External Affairs; Human Resource Development; Skill Development & Entrepreneurship; Minster of State (I/C) of Ministry of Culture and Vice Chairman and CEO of NITI Aayog and other senior officials from various Ministries are set to  participate in the event.