Draft approved, to be submitted to Planning Commission shortly
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 10: The State Government has projected an increase of over 150 per cent in the outlay for the 12th Five Year Plan over the 11th Five Year Plan with an aim to achieve 8 per cent growth rate. The Draft 12th Five Year Plan, which was approved by the State Cabinet today, will be submitted to the Planning Commission of India shortly and it is likely to get the nod as the Union Government has already been liberal in extending huge financial assistance to the Omar Abdullah-led Government in the State.
Authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR that Draft of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) has been prepared for an outlay of Rs 67822.47 crore as against the Rs 25834 crore outlay in the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12), which forms an increase of over 150 per cent over the preceding plan for the State.
The biggest gainers in the 12th Five Year Plan outlay over 11th Five Year Plan would be Power, Education, Roads and Bridges, Health and Medical Education, PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Social Welfare and Rural Development sectors, sources said.
For the Power Sector, the outlay during the 11th Five Year Plan was Rs 8190.12 crore but during the 12th Five Year Plan the outlay has been projected at Rs 17099.32 crore, which is an increase of Rs 8909.20 crore. Similarly, for the Education Sector, an outlay of Rs 9947.86 crore has been projected for the 12th Five Year Plan as against Rs 2132.25 crore during the preceding five year plan.
For the Health and Medical Education Sector, an increase of Rs 3152.31 crore has been projected during the 12th Five Year Plan. During the preceding plan the outlay was to the tune of Rs 1353.15 crore while as for the 2012-17 period outlay of Rs 4505.46 crore has been projected.
Likewise, outlay for the PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control and Agriculture and Allied Sectors for the 12th Five Year Plan has been projected at Rs 4464.23 crore and Rs 3379 crore respectively as against Rs 1826.79 crore and Rs 811.62 crore respectively during the 11th Five Year Plan. For the Social Welfare Sector, projection of Rs 2486.88 crore and Rs 2028.52 crore for the Rural Development Department has been made for the 12th Plan.
Stating that 12th Plan will aim at achieving a growth rate of 7.5 per cent per annum at constant prices, sources said that growth rate is expected to gain momentum with the progress of the plan, adding the growth rate is expected at 7 per cent in the first year and 8 per cent in the terminal year of the 12th Plan. “The focus of the State Government would be on an achievable rate of growth with due emphasis on the distributive aspects of growth and its linkage with unfolding of concrete employment opportunities in the economy”, sources said.
“Some of the factors, which are likely to help accelerate the rate of growth in the economy during 12th Five Year Plan, include the creation of an enabling atmosphere by growth in bank branches, rapid increase in tele-density, setting up of a large number of colleges, universities and technical institutions, record number of tourist arrivals in all three regions of the State during 2011”, sources said.
Stating that for accelerated growth the investment will have to be induced both in public and private sectors, sources said that the initiatives taken by the Government like a policy for power generation, which lays emphasis on Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and Joint Ventures (JVs), will lead to institutional/ private sector investment.
“The incentives being provided by the State Government and the Central Government for industries and commerce will also facilitate private sector investment”, sources further said.
Mentioning that 12th Plan will aim at reducing losses in the public sector, sources said that adequate steps would be taken to reduce the losses in Transmission and Distribution system, which continue to be too high. “Besides getting assistance from Union Government under R-APDRP, the T&D functions of the PDD will be unbundled and the roadmap indicated by TERI will be followed”, sources said, adding “the generation capacity of the power stations has been proposed to be added by 5000 MW during 12th Plan”.
During the 12th Five Year Plan, 6.4 lakh job opportunities are likely to be created because of implementation of employment oriented and developmental programmes of various sectors. “The problem of unemployment would be less acute at the end of 12th Plan as compared to the position at the end of 11th Plan”, sources added. Moreover, 45000 youth would be made employable during this period by roping in private sector for improving employability of youth through schemes like Uddan and Himmayat.
Stating that empowering people, Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies for addressing the concerns of poor and the marginalized would also be priority areas for the Government, sources said, “the functioning of the Panchayats will be facilitated by provision of funds for implementation of the duties and powers assigned to them”, adding “an exercise is being carried out to arrive at specific formula for sharing of resources among three tiers of Panchayati Raj Institutions”.
Similarly, the funds and the divisions implementing the programmes assigned to ULBs under the Municipal Corporation Act will be progressively transferred to ULBs so that by the end of 12th Five Year Plan the ULBs would be able to discharge their functions fully.
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