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Veteran scribes who have been covering the meetings of the National Development Council (NDC) — billed as the highest policy-making body in the country since the Prime Minister and his senior Cabinet colleagues as well as all Chief Ministers are its members — have found that such meetings have lost much of their sheen. Last week, there were two back-to-back meetings of the Central and State leaders to discuss two crucial issues — the state of the power infrastructure and that of agriculture. Nothing much came out of either meeting.

One colleague trying to probe why things had come to such a pass got an enlightened insight from a senior Government official. According to him, NDC meetings in the past were a forum for the States to raise fresh demands on the Centre for additional fund allocation. Now, with the Finance Commission laying down the share of States and the Centre from all revenue sources, there is hardly any scope for any additional funds flow from the Centre to the States. And, if there is no money coming, how much enthusiasm can States generate over a NDC meeting?

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