Mamata Banerjee skips NITI Aayog meet

 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on Sunday conspicuous by her absence at the first governing council meeting of NITI Aayog here.

No one from the West Bengal government has come to the meeting, said Finance Minister Arun Jaitley after the meeting. With the absence of the Chief Minister, the state remained unrepresented at the crucial meeting of the recently constituted National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog). It has replaced the six-decade-old Planning Commission as a think-tank for the Centre and state governments as also to suggest policy directions. The Prime Minister is the chairperson of the new body.