NEW DELHI, April 19 � Assam�s plan outlay for the current fiscal (2010-2011), has been fixed at Rs 7645 crore marking an impressive hike of Rs 1645 crore. Assam annual plan for the last financial year was Rs 6000 crore.
The annual plan size is marginally higher than the figure of Rs 7527.70 crore that was projected as annual plan component in 2010-2011 State Budget by the Tarun Gogoi Government.
Assam�s plan outlay was fixed at a meeting between the State Government and Planning Commission here this afternoon. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi accompanied by top officials of the State Government participated in the meeting, while Planning Commission officials were led by its deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Emerging from the meeting, the Chief Minister told newsmen that he was by and large satisfied with the planning allocation considering the economic constraints of the Government of India. Assam had projected a hike of 60 per cent demanding a plan size of Rs 9797.40 crore, which was slashed down by the Commission to Rs 7,645 crore.
The annual plan�s thrust areas are agriculture, social sector schemes, flood and erosion, among others.
In his comments on the Plan performance of Assam, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission said that the State has shown good progress in both plan realisation and growth rate. He said performance in all sectors of economy is improving. Even in the flagship programmes the performance has shown a positive trend. More focused attention was needed in sectors like education, health and power.
Innovative initiatives in the health sector were appreciated. These include boat clinics in riverine areas, 108 ambulance services, private-public-partnerships with the tea gardens for providing health services in the gardens, mobile clinics in inaccessible areas, evening OPDs, and the 2 new schemes � Mamoni for pregnant women and Majoni for the first 2 girl children in a family.
Ahluwalia drew the attention to human development indices and the Assam Government was asked to make development process more inclusive. He suggested that priority should be given to the early completion of on-going irrigation projects and improvement of extension services. The State should encourage people�s participation in flood management as the State has a major problem of frequent floods and land erosion.
Earlier, citing falling tax revenue collection since September 2008, owing to the economic slump, the Chief Minister told the Commission that the State�s financial parameters are showing sign of stress and strains. The State�s revenue collection was growing at over 30 per cent till October 2008. However, the growth rate came down to 26 per cent in 2008-2009. �Thereafter, the situation has deteriorated alarmingly,� he said.
The 2010-2011 Union Budget has provided an amount of Rs 7954.57 crore as the State share of Central Taxes for the State, while on the other hand economic recession has compelled the State Government not only to maintain but to step up public expenditure as part of stimulus package.
The Chief Minister in his address pointed towards the burden of paying the revised pay, pension and allowances to its employees based on the recommendation of Assam Pay Commission. The additional liability is of the order of Rs 4200 crore in the first year and likely to go up by about 10-12 per cent cumulatively every year thereafter, he rued.
On the positive side, he reported that quite a few insurgent outfits have shown inclination to participate in the process of dialogue to walk towards peace and join the social mainstream. �I am determined to walk the extra mile to redress their genuine and legitimate grievances to bring back peace in the larger and long-term interest of the State,� he said.
On the flood problem, he said 12 projects have been forwarded to Brahmaputra Board for inclusion in the Flood Management Programme.
The Planning Commission, Gogoi said has rightfully observed that a more permanent and long term solution has to be found and a long term flood management plan developed with the support of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, he said.
Majuli island has been appropriately singled out for attention by the Planning Commission as it has the potential to become a great attraction. An estimate of Rs 86.56 crore has been sanctioned for taking the master plan drawn up by the Brahmaputra Board. The Project is being implemented in three phases, he reported.
Later, talking to newsmen, the Chief Minister said as part of his long-term measure he has proposed reclamation of land from Brahmaputra river. He said given the massive erosion, the State cannot wait for a new body like North East Water Resources Authority to come up.
Gogoi mooted the idea of involving foreign experts if the need arises to look into ways of constructing 20-25 km channel to check erosion, which he estimated has claimed over 4 lakh square km of land area of the State.
On the power sector, Gogoi said referring to the Planning Commission�s suggestion regarding viability of and sanction of loan from financial institutions before taking up the Margherita Thermal Project and 100 MW Amguri Combine Cycle Gas Turbine Power Project, he said that the projects could go ahead because of non-availability of coal and gas linkages.
NEW DELHI, April 19 � Assam�s plan outlay for the current fiscal (2010-2011), has been fixed at Rs 7645 crore marking an impressive hike of Rs 1645 crore. Assam annual plan for the last financial year was Rs 6000 crore.
The annual plan size is marginally higher than the figure of Rs 7527.70 crore that was projected as annual plan component in 2010-2011 State Budget by the Tarun Gogoi Government.
Assam�s plan outlay was fixed at a meeting between the State Government and Planning Commission here this afternoon. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi accompanied by top officials of the State Government participated in the meeting, while Planning Commission officials were led by its deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Emerging from the meeting, the Chief Minister told newsmen that he was by and large satisfied with the planning allocation considering the economic constraints of the Government of India. Assam had projected a hike of 60 per cent demanding a plan size of Rs 9797.40 crore, which was slashed down by the Commission to Rs 7,645 crore.
The annual plan�s thrust areas are agriculture, social sector schemes, flood and erosion, among others.
In his comments on the Plan performance of Assam, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission said that the State has shown good progress in both plan realisation and growth rate. He said performance in all sectors of economy is improving. Even in the flagship programmes the performance has shown a positive trend. More focused attention was needed in sectors like education, health and power.
Innovative initiatives in the health sector were appreciated. These include boat clinics in riverine areas, 108 ambulance services, private-public-partnerships with the tea gardens for providing health services in the gardens, mobile clinics in inaccessible areas, evening OPDs, and the 2 new schemes � Mamoni for pregnant women and Majoni for the first 2 girl children in a family.
Ahluwalia drew the attention to human development indices and the Assam Government was asked to make development process more inclusive. He suggested that priority should be given to the early completion of on-going irrigation projects and improvement of extension services. The State should encourage people�s participation in flood management as the State has a major problem of frequent floods and land erosion.
Earlier, citing falling tax revenue collection since September 2008, owing to the economic slump, the Chief Minister told the Commission that the State�s financial parameters are showing sign of stress and strains. The State�s revenue collection was growing at over 30 per cent till October 2008. However, the growth rate came down to 26 per cent in 2008-2009. �Thereafter, the situation has deteriorated alarmingly,� he said.
The 2010-2011 Union Budget has provided an amount of Rs 7954.57 crore as the State share of Central Taxes for the State, while on the other hand economic recession has compelled the State Government not only to maintain but to step up public expenditure as part of stimulus package.
The Chief Minister in his address pointed towards the burden of paying the revised pay, pension and allowances to its employees based on the recommendation of Assam Pay Commission. The additional liability is of the order of Rs 4200 crore in the first year and likely to go up by about 10-12 per cent cumulatively every year thereafter, he rued.
On the positive side, he reported that quite a few insurgent outfits have shown inclination to participate in the process of dialogue to walk towards peace and join the social mainstream. �I am determined to walk the extra mile to redress their genuine and legitimate grievances to bring back peace in the larger and long-term interest of the State,� he said.
On the flood problem, he said 12 projects have been forwarded to Brahmaputra Board for inclusion in the Flood Management Programme.
The Planning Commission, Gogoi said has rightfully observed that a more permanent and long term solution has to be found and a long term flood management plan developed with the support of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and Bhutan, he said.
Majuli island has been appropriately singled out for attention by the Planning Commission as it has the potential to become a great attraction. An estimate of Rs 86.56 crore has been sanctioned for taking the master plan drawn up by the Brahmaputra Board. The Project is being implemented in three phases, he reported.
Later, talking to newsmen, the Chief Minister said as part of his long-term measure he has proposed reclamation of land from Brahmaputra river. He said given the massive erosion, the State cannot wait for a new body like North East Water Resources Authority to come up.
Gogoi mooted the idea of involving foreign experts if the need arises to look into ways of constructing 20-25 km channel to check erosion, which he estimated has claimed over 4 lakh square km of land area of the State.
On the power sector, Gogoi said referring to the Planning Commission�s suggestion regarding viability of and sanction of loan from financial institutions before taking up the Margherita Thermal Project and 100 MW Amguri Combine Cycle Gas Turbine Power Project, he said that the projects could go ahead because of non-availability of coal and gas linkages.
