Monday, May 6, 2013

Planning Commission approves outlay of Rs 27,072 crore for 2013-14



By Haryananewswire
CHANDIGARH MAY 6
  The Planning Commission today approved an outlay of Rs 27,072 crore for Haryana’s Annual Plan for the year 2013-14. The outlay includes an amount of Rs. 7513 crore for State Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) and   Rs. 1559 crore for local bodies to be met from their own resources. The Net State Plan outlay, excluding PSEs and local bodies comes to Rs. 18000 crore, which is an increase of 24 per cent over the last year’s Rs. 14,500 crore.
This was finalized in a meeting between Haryana Chief Minister,  Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission,     Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia at Yojana Bhawan in New Delhi today. Haryana Finance Minister Mr Harmohinder Singh Chattha, Haryana Chief Secretary Mr P. K. Chaudhery, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr Chhatar Singh and other senior officers of the State Government were also participated in the meeting.
Mr Hooda said that with an area of just 1.3 per cent of the country, Haryana is contributing nearly 3.4 per cent GDP. The average economic growth rate of the State during last eight years has been 9.3 per cent, which is higher than the growth rate of national economy. With per capita income of about Rs. 1.24 lakh, Haryana occupies the position among major States of the country. As per the report of the Planning Commission, Haryana achieved the mobilization of resources upto 192 per cent during 11th Five Year Plan against the national average of 92.5 per cent.
Mr Hooda said that to achieve the objective of faster, inclusive and sustainable growth during the 12th Plan, the focus will be on improvement in health outcomes, universal access to school, increased access to higher education, improved standards of education including skill development and provision of basic amenities like water, electricity, roads, sanitation and housing etc.
The Social Services Sector has been given the highest priority in 2013-14. An outlay of Rs. 9795.12 crore (54.42 per cent) has been allocated for the Social Services which is 26 per cent higher than the previous year’s allocation. An amount of Rs. 398.40 crore has been set apart for the Women and Child Development Programmes, mainly for the construction for the Aganwadis.  
An outlay for Education including Technical Education will be Rs. 3191.83 crore (17.73 per cent). For improving infrastructure in Health Sector and for opening of Medical Colleges in the State, an outlay of Rs. 925.69 crore  has been earmarked, which is 63.4 per cent higher than the outlay during 2012-13. For investment in Sports Infrastructure and promotion of Sports, an outlay of Rs. 100 crore has been kept. For augmenting the drinking water supply and improving the sanitation an outlay of Rs. 715.78 crore has been provided.    
The second highest priority has been accorded to the development of infrastructure of irrigation, power, roads and road transport and projects under the economic stimulus package. An amount of Rs. 965.09 crore  is allocated for power, Rs. 994 crore for irrigation, Rs. 1741.50 for Road and Transport and         Rs. 850 crore under Economic Stimulus Package. Agricultural and allied activities sector has been given its due priority by allocating an amount Rs. 1325.50 crore to this sector. Rs. 1450.40 crore has been allocated to rural development and Rs. 500 crore has been allocated to District Plan. An amount of Rs. 34 crore has been set apart for the Development of  Mewat and Sivalik areas. Under the Schedule Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) an amount of Rs. 3729.51 crore (20.72 per cent) has been proposed against the 19.35 per cent SC population in the State.
Mr Hooda said that the benefits of economic growth must result in the improvement of the living conditions of the people, particularly the weaker sections of the society. Therefore, State Government’s stress is on Good governance and citizen-centric cost effective delivery of public goods and services.
Mr Hooda said that for providing affordable housing to weaker sections of the society, an ambitious scheme – Priyadarshini Awaas Yojna for rural areas is proposed to be launched from this year. Initially two lakh families will be covered during two years. Financial assistance of Rs. 90,100 will be provided for the construction of new house. The Government has decided that the Building Construction Workers Cess Fund will be utilized to strengthen the infrastructure including dispensaries, poly clinics, anganwaris, primary schools and public health facilities etc. in areas largely populated by construction workers. About Rs. 1000 crore is expected to be available during two years period under this Fund.  
Mr Hooda said that present system of budgetary classification of State Outlays under Plan and Non-Plan is outdated and needs to be rationalized. He suggested that instead, they should be classified as capital and revenue, as recommended by Rangarajan Committee.  He also suggested that number of centrally sponsored schemes should be eventually reduced and States should be given necessary flexibility. He also urged that the Mewat and Jhajjar districts and the Shivalik areas of the State should also be covered under BRGF scheme. He also suggested that Central legislations involving States’ involvement should provide for cost sharing on the pattern of the RTE Act.
Mr Hooda said that a major portion of indirect taxes accrues from the Service Tax and the GST will take some more time. Therefore, some of the services should be transferred to the States for levy and appropriation of service tax. About CST compensation for 2011-12, he said that it should be resolved expeditiously. The State has still not received compensation of Rs. 3000 crore on this account.
Mr Hooda said that Haryana was first and perhaps the only State to have gone in for 100 per cent treatment of certified seed of wheat, for which 100 per cent subsidy is being given by the State government. As a result State has achieved productivity of 5182 kg/hact., which is the highest. Soil Health Cards have been given to 15.76 lakh farmers to promote balanced use of fertilizers. New methods of irrigation are being promoted in the State. He requested the Central government for a special and sizeable package to promote sustainable agriculture development of the State. He also requested that National Feed Security Mission should cover all the 21 districts instead of only 7 districts at present. For construction of rural godowns in the States, subsidy under the Gramin Bhandaran Yojna should be enhanced from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. He particularly requested the Planning Commission to intervene in the rationalization of the existing methodology of fixation of MSP and recommended that MSP should be fixed at 50 per cent more than the cost of production. 
Mr Hooda said that for assessing drinking water requirement the entire NCR should be treated as one integrated unit. Mr Hooda urged that supply of drinking water in entire NCR region should be treated as National Project.
Mr Hooda said that the State government is bearing a very high subsidy cost of more than Rs. 4500 crore every year to protect the farm sector in the interest of food security of the nation, therefore a package of assistance should be announced in order to compensate the State government. On the issue of allocation of new coal blocks to the power utilities, he said that Haryana should be considered on priority, since the State is deprived of both hydro and thermal resources. On the issue of National Investment Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs), he requested the Planning Commission to intervene and see that land area requirement of 5,000 hectares is scaled down to 1,000 hectares for smaller states like Haryana.
Mr Hooda said that Haryana is witnessing rapid urbanization. Growth rate in urban areas is over 44 per cent as compared to about 10 per cent for rural areas. He requested that Central assistance should be augmented for urban infrastructure. He particularly requested that Gurgaon town should be covered under JNNURM, as its population has reached to about 9.5 lakh. Kurukshetra town, being a religious city, should also be included under JNNURM.
In Health sector, State Government is setting up four Medical Colleges including a Women Medical College at Khanpur Kalan, which has already started functioning. A Medical College at Nalhar (Mewat) has also become operational.
About education Mr Hooda said that State is giving highest priority to the education and is implementing RTE Act. 2009 to ensure that all children including out of school  children are enrolled. To improve learning outcomes, it is necessary to change the orientation of teaching-learning process. For this purpose, a State level school for Teachers’ education is coming up at Silani Kesho. For improving the quality of higher education, extensive steps have been taken. Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat, is a unique initiative in the field of higher education with a clear focus on quality in professional courses.   
  Government has also setup eight new Government colleges in 2012-13, which is a record.
Mr Hooda said that State government is committed to provide social security to the aged, widows, destitute women, handicapped persons, and minority communities etc. During 2012-13 a sum of Rs. 1749.56 crore was spent on their welfare schemes and for 2013-14 an amount of Rs. 1812.89 crore has been kept.
Mr Hooda said that Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna has been started in this financial year, for which Rs. 37 crore have been provided. The scheme covers both rural and urban BPL households and the families marginally above the poverty line.  State government is committed to the security welfare and development of women and children. Haryana State Commission for women has been accorded a statutory status and steps have been taken to improve the physical infrastructure impacting ICDS and ICPS schemes.
Mr Hooda said that we are taking a holistic view of the entire gamut of development concerns. Some of the challenges are very daunting. But we are prepared to meet them. He expressed confidence that with the support of Government of India and Planning Commission, we will succeed in achieving inclusive and sustainable growth of Haryana.   

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