Delhi, December 26: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the fifth National Conference of Chief Secretaries in Delhi on December 27 and 28. The Conference marks another important milestone in strengthening Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities.

Anchored in the Prime Minister’s vision of cooperative federalism, this Conference serves as the forum where Centre and States collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India’s Human Capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.

The three-day Conference to be held from December 26 to 28 will be devoted to intensive deliberations aimed at finalising a common development agenda. It will lay the ground for collaborative action to move beyond viewing India’s population merely as a demographic dividend and instead position citizens as human capital by developing concrete strategies to strengthen education systems, advance skilling initiatives and generate future-ready employment opportunities across the country.

Based on the extensive deliberations between Central Ministries/Departments, NITI Aayog, States/UTs and domain experts, the fifth National Conference will focus on the theme ‘Human Capital for Viksit Bharat’ covering best practices and strategies for states/UTs to follow.

Under this overarching theme, special emphasis will be placed on five key areas: Early Childhood Education, Schooling, Skilling, Higher Education, Sports and Extracurricular activities, which have been identified for detailed discussion.

Six special sessions will also be held on Deregulation in States; Technology in Governance - Opportunities, Risks & Mitigation; AgriStack for Smart Supply Chain & Market Linkages; One State, One World Class Tourist Destination; Atmanirbhar Bharat & Swadeshi and Plans for a Post-LWE Future.

Besides, focused deliberations over meals would be held on Heritage & Manuscript Preservation and Digitisation and Ayush for All – Integrating Knowledge in Primary Healthcare Delivery.

The National Conference of Chief Secretaries has been organised annually over the past four years. The first Conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent Conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.

Chief Secretaries, senior officials of all States/Union Territories, domain experts among others will be present at the Conference.