Centre tinkering with federal structure: Modi

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Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Central government of attempting to tinker with the federal structure of the country and said the confidence of people had been shaken due to corruption.

“During the 11th plan, we have seen enough instances of major schemes yielding sub-optimal outcomes because the schemes gave little or no flexibility to the state,” Modi told the 56th meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) in his written speech, copies of which were distributed to the media at the Vigyan Bhavan here. Modi said there was a "credibility crisis" in the country and the confidence of people in governance had been shaken to the core.

“Large scale corruption has undermined the fate of the common citizen in our system of governance. Transparency and fairness have to be clearly demonstrated to change public perception,” said Modi. He said it was with a “sense of great anguish and deep regret” that he was drawing attention of the NDC to “attempts being made by the Central government to tinker with federal structure mandated by the constitution".

“The Central government should exercise extreme vigilance and caution to ensure that all constitutional authorities are allowed to carry out their mandated functions and at all times observe the federal dharma," added Modi. The chief minister also attacked the central government over rising prices and said inflation poses a great threat to the country's development.

“The government of India has made little effort to tackle supply side constraints and the agricultural sector is practically stagnating. The frequent monetary policy interventions are adversely affecting the confidence of investors,” Modi said.