The Hindu             01.08.2013

Rs. 25,250-cr. annual plan for Chhattisgarh granted

The Planning Commission has granted a Plan size of Rs.
25,250 crore for Chhattisgarh. The decision came after Planning
Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chhattisgarh Chief
Minister Raman Singh met on Wednesday in New Delhi.

The
outlay includes Central assistance to the State Plan of about Rs. 2,574
crore. In addition, an amount of nearly Rs. 6,000 crore is likely to
flow from the Centre to Chhattisgarh through various Centrally Sponsored
Schemes (CSS). More specifically, plan funding from the Central
government to Chhattisgarh, from all sources, is expected to be over Rs.
8,574 crore during 2013-14.

Mr. Ahluwalia praised
the State for following the policy of inclusive development with focus
on private participation in infrastructure development. Appreciating
improvement in the human development index, he pointed out that health
indicators have shown substantial improvement but deterioration in child
sex ratio was a matter of concern.

Mr. Singh
reiterated Chhattisgarh’s need for greater flexibility in implementing
the CSS as each State was different and had diverse requirements. He
highlighted the fact that Chhattisgarh was a tribal State, sparsely
populated and therefore requiring “flexibility in funding and much more
relaxed norms.”

Recently, the Planning Commission
restructured the CSS to provide greater flexibility to State governments
for proper implementation. Ten per cent of the outlay of the schemes
was to be kept as flexi-funds.

“Due to the strict
embargo on environmental clearances, several projects get stuck. They
need greater flexibility especially due to the large forest area in
Chhattisgarh,” said Sayeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission.

Mr.
Singh asserted that during 12th Plan period the State would be
following a policy of faster and more inclusive growth with a 10 per
cent growth target. To improve business regulatory environment, the
State investment promotion board had been constituted. This would
facilitate early sanction of projects. A single window clearance system
had been put in place and a monitoring committee set up to coordinate
and review progress of statutory clearances.

Additionally,
the need for concerted efforts required to improve the literacy rate
and eliminate gender and social gap in school enrolment by the end of
Twelfth Five Year Plan was discussed in detail. According to Census
(2011) data, the gender gap in literacy in Chhattisgarh was nearly 21
per cent.

It was suggested that convergence with
Integrated Child Development Scheme should be encouraged to address the
problems of malnutrition.