By THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM| Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the fifth National Conference of Chief Secretaries in New Delhi, underscoring the centrality of human capital in India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation. The three-day conference, being held from 26 to 28 December, serves as a key platform for structured dialogue between the Centre and States on governance reforms and national development priorities.

Sharing his reflections, the Prime Minister described the deliberations as insightful, noting that discussions covered a wide spectrum of issues relating to governance reforms, capacity building and long-term policy planning. Anchored in the vision of cooperative federalism, the conference aims to strengthen Centre–State collaboration through sustained and outcome-oriented engagement.

The overarching theme of this year’s conference is “Human Capital for Viksit Bharat”, reflecting a shift from viewing India’s population merely as a demographic dividend to positioning citizens as active drivers of economic growth and social transformation. The deliberations are focused on developing a unified national roadmap to enhance education systems, expand skilling initiatives and create future-ready employment opportunities.

Under this broad framework, special emphasis has been placed on five key areas identified as critical to human capital development. These include early childhood education, schooling, skilling, higher education, and sports and extracurricular activities. Detailed discussions are aimed at identifying best practices, scalable models and innovative strategies that States and Union Territories can adopt to strengthen outcomes across these sectors.

In addition to the core thematic discussions, six special sessions are being held on issues of contemporary relevance. These include deregulation in States, technology in governance with a focus on opportunities, risks and mitigation, AgriStack for smart supply chains and market linkages, One State One World Class Tourist Destination, Atmanirbhar Bharat and Swadeshi, and plans for a post-LWE future. These sessions are intended to align policy thinking with ground-level implementation challenges and emerging national priorities.

The conference also features focused deliberations over meals on heritage and manuscript preservation and digitisation, as well as Ayush for All, highlighting the integration of traditional knowledge systems into primary healthcare delivery.

Based on extensive consultations involving Central ministries and departments, NITI Aayog, States and Union Territories, and domain experts, the conference is expected to finalise a common development agenda. The outcomes are likely to guide collaborative action in education reform, workforce readiness and inclusive growth.

The National Conference of Chief Secretaries has been organised annually over the past four years, with previous editions held in Dharamshala in June 2022 and in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024. The fifth edition continues this tradition, bringing together Chief Secretaries, senior officials and experts on a common platform to shape India’s future through cooperative governance.