Odisha's Plan for 2012-13 Finalized at Rs.17, 250 crore

Odisha's Plan for 2012-13 Finalized at Rs.17, 250 crore , 04/05/2012

SIDDHARTHA SHANKAR MISHRA,BUREAU CHIEF,ODISHA
INDINO/THESE DAYS NEWS SERVICE:



In the meeting with Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission at New Delhi, held on 4th May, 2012, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Odisha discussed proposals for the Annual Plan 2012-13. He informed the Hon’ble Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission that Odisha has been assiduously pursuing a development strategy with the aim to achieve a higher inclusive growth, faster poverty alleviation and reduction in regional, social and gender disparities. Agriculture and allied sectors, economic and social infrastructure, education, health services and food & nutritional security continue to receive focused attention of the State, he stated.


The Chief Minister informed that the development strategy has led to a significant improvement in all economic, social and health indicators during the 11th Plan period. He highlighted that during the first 4 years of the 11th Plan, the State has grown at a real average annual rate of 8.50%, with agriculture and allied sectors growing at 4.12%. Literacy rate in the State has improved to 73.45% along with a decline in the gender gap to 18 percentage points, while the Infant Mortality Rate and the Maternal Mortality Ratio have reduced to 61 and 258 respectively, he mentioned. Hon’ble Chief Minister informed that the State has programmed to achieve an annual growth rate of over 9% during the 12th Five Year Plan period along with the growth of agriculture and allied sectors of over 4%.


He stated that the objective of the 12th Plan is to achieve a faster and balanced socio-economic development in the State through focused efforts on critical infrastructure, namely Bijli, Sadak and Pani, agriculture, irrigation and watershed development in drought-prone areas, skill upgradation programmes for creating employment opportunities and accelerated development of the tribal dominated regions including the KBK districts. The projected resource requirement of the State during the 12th Five Year Plan is estimated at Rs.1 lakh crore, he stated. For the Annual Plan 2012-13, the Chief Minister informed that the State has projected a substantially higher outlay of Rs.17,200 crore and requested the Deputy Chairman to approve the same to enable the State to sustain the on-going efforts.

The Chief Minister brought to the attention of the Deputy Chairman that many important proposals of the State having significant bearing on the socio-economic development and resource mobilization efforts have remained pending with Government of India for a long time. He stated that these, inter alia, include the following:

- Modification of guidelines to include Odisha under the Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme-II;
- Approval of 8 year Perspective Plan for KBK districts with a projected outlay of Rs.4550 crore;
- Extension of the Revised Long Term Action Plan for the KBK region for another 10 years;
- Substantial upward revision of royalties on ad valorem basis for major minerals including coal, iron ore, chromite, manganese and bauxite;
- Imposition of Mineral Resources Rent Tax on iron ore to be charged at 50% of the surplus rent from the iron ore mining companies; and
- Declaring Odisha as a Special Category State – The State satisfies all the criteria except having an international boundary.

Chief Minister urged upon the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission to facilitate early clearance of the pending proposals. The Chief Minister also mentioned that the uniform policies and programmes pursued by Government of India for the country as a whole have in many cases resulted in distorted growth and inequalities and suggested that the Government of India should engage more constructively with the States to liberally support region-specific interventions. Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and other Members of the Planning Commission lauded the efforts made by Government of Odisha which have led to significant improvement in almost all economic, social and health indicators during the 11th Plan period (2007-12).


Special initiatives undertaken by the State such as participatory management of water resources and convergence in the delivery of social services through Integrated Child Development Services Scheme received special appreciation. The Deputy Chairman appreciated the genuine concerns of the State and assured that all possible efforts would be made to provide adequate Central support during the 12th Plan to enable the State to sustain its efforts, particularly in the thrust areas identified for the 12th Plan.


The Deputy Chairman approved the Annual Plan Outlay of Odisha for 2012-13 at Rs.17,250 crore. Hon’ble Chief Minister appreciated the support provided by the Planning Commission for Odisha’s development efforts and the increased Plan size.


COURTESY- ODISHA DIARY