CM DEMANDS COMPREHENSIVE DEBT RELIEF PACKAGE
NEW DELHI / CHANDIGARH : Sanjay Pahwa:
The Annual Plan 2011-12 for the Punjab Government was finalized at Rs. 11520 crore at a meeting held today at Yojana Bhawan, New Delhi between Deputy Chairman Planning Commission of India Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal. The Plan outlay includes an Additional Central Assistance of Rs. 400 crore earmarked for the priority projects, with Rs.120 crore as central grant component.
Giving details of the plan outlay, a spokesman of the Punjab government said that the outlay for Annual Plan 2011-12 was Rs. 11520 crore, against the outlay of Rs.9150 crore for Annual Plan 2010-11. The budgeted plan was proposed at Rs.6804 crore while the remaining Rs. 4716 crore would form the extra-budgetary component.
Taking part in the deliberations, Punjab Chief Minister Mr. Parkash Singh Badal apprised the Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Ahluwalia about 37% increase in the state’s own revenues over the past one year. Prudent financial management has resulted in plan performance of 98% in 2010-11. Mr. Badal also mentioned as against the 11th Plan target of 5.90%, the state’s economy grew at 9.25% in 2007-08, 6.55% in 2008-09, 7.84% in 2009-10 and 7.78% in 2010-11.
Dwelling on the remarkable progress in the key areas, Mr. Badal said that the state jumped from the 14th position to the 3rd in educational development index. Likewise, Punjab was also rated as excellent in the health sector in GoI’s common review mission of National Rural Health Mission. In power sector, the state inherited a legacy of total generation of 6200 MWs in 2007 and our concerted efforts have already increased it to 6900 MWs. Several projects were under way to generate 6560 MWs of additional power. Efforts were also being made to add another 5850 MWs through tapping other resources.
On the issue of the mounting debt, Mr. Badal said that despite our excellent all-round showing, the state’s finances remained under strain due to the heavy legacy of debt, which was inherited from the period of militancy when the state was directly under central rule. The annual interest burden alone for this debt was Rs. 6500 crore. He sought a comprehensive debt relief package in the form of complete debt waiver or rescheduling since this debt was incurred for fighting the nation’s war. The state has also suffered in a big way due to the industrial concessions granted to the neighboring hill states. This has resulted in a flight of industry from the state. Mr. Badal requested that these concessions should not be extended further or Punjab, being a border state, should also be given same concessions for its border areas. Another factor that has been straining the state’s resources was the reduction of state’s share in central taxes from 2.54 % to 1.39 %, revealed the Chief Minister.
Mr. Badal also urged the GoI to reduce the interest rate on small savings loans by 1.5% and bring it to the market rates. He also pointed that the state should also be given a choice between small savings loans and market loans. He also requested the early finalization of report of a committee constituted by GoI to assist the three debt ridden stressed states of Punjab, West Bengal and Kerala in getting out from the fiscal stress.
The Chief Minister forcefully pleaded for review of criteria for allocation of funds under major central schemes – AIBP, PMGSY, RKVY, NREGA, RGGVY etc. as these discriminated against the developed states like Punjab. He requested that separate funds be earmarked for maintenance and up-gradation of infrastructure for the states like Punjab.
The Chief Minister also highlighted the problems faced by the state in the various sectors and sought the help of planning commission and GoI to resolve them promptly on permanent basis.
Mr. Badal urged the GoI to review the criteria for allocation of funds under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) to include areas where subsoil water was declining within the ambit of un-irrigated area. Weight age should be given to maintenance and up-gradation of existing irrigation infrastructure and ensuring availability of power for agriculture. He also demanded to fix the Minimum Support Price as per the recommendation of Dr Swaminthan committee, giving a profit margin of 50% over cost of production. He also requested that all districts be covered under National Food Security Mission for wheat and rice. He asked Ministry of Food, GoI for an early settlement of outstanding dues of Rs 7461 crore pending with the Food Corporation of India for which the state was paying hefty interest.
Other issues raised by Mr. Badal related to financial support of Rs.100 crore every year to Punjab Agricultural University and additional storage needs of 78 lac MT of which 25 lac MT should be in the form of silos for scientific storage of food grains. He raised the unfortunate incidents of suicides by the farmers and urged the Government of India to waive off all agricultural loans as a one time measure regardless of the size of land holdings.
The Chief Minister also demanded that the compensation for crop damage be enhanced from Rs. 1600/- per acre to Rs 15000/- per acre. Mr. Badal also raised an issue to widen the scope of National Rural Employment Guarantees Scheme (NREGA) by including works like constructions of toilets for SC and BPL families, lining of distributaries, minors, water courses, boundary walls for schools and hospitals and white washing of government buildings etc. He highlighted the gross in justice done to the state by fixing the wage rates under NREGA at Rs.123 per day for Punjab and Rs.179 for Haryana and other states and sought immediate review of wages to end this disparity once for all.
Mr. Badal sought intervention of Planning Commission to device a new definition of BPL families and a comprehensive survey for their identification.
Making a forceful plea to compensate Punjab for its depletion of under ground water in the form of state’s only natural resource, Mr. Badal sought an early clearance of Rs. 3769 crore for modernization, remodeling of canals, deep tubewells, lining of water courses etc. submitted to Water Resources Ministry for approval. He demanded that the state government be compensated from the central pool for supply of 380 MWs of power for lighting of the border fence.
On the industrial front, Mr. Badal urged the Planning Commission to extend Delhi – Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and two Freight Corridors up to Amritsar to give impetus to the industry in the state. Likewise, he also requested for special industrial package for agro-based industries and a big central sector project especially in the automobile sector.
Expressing gratitude to the Union Minister of Environment and Forests Mr. Jairam Ramesh for liberal GoI’s assistance for the river water cleaning projects in 45 towns situated on the banks of river Satluj, Beas and Ghaggar, Mr. Badal proudly announced that Punjab would be the only state in the country to have all its rivers pollution free.
Mr. Badal also appreciated the efforts of GoI for the enactment of Right to Education and also asked the GoI to share the cost of its implementation.
Highlighting the plight of cancer patients especially in the Malwa region, Mr. Badal solicited GoI’s liberal financial assistance for setting up of a new state-of-the-art Cancer Diagnostic and Treatment Center in the state.
Outlining the enormous potential of development of once prosperous border areas, Mr. Badal demanded compensation for the farmers for their lands across the border fence @ Rs.10000/- acre for nearly 18500 acre. Besides, Rs.134 crore were demanded for providing water supply, sewerage and other amenities in 11 border towns and an industrial package for the border areas of the state at par with the package given to hilly states.
Responding to the presentation made by Mr. Samra, CEO of National Rainfed Authority of India regarding recharging of ground water in the Ghaggar basin by utilizing the flood water. Mr. Badal welcomed the proposal and sought the early implementation of the Rs.1100 crore inter-state project involving Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
While interacting with the Chief Minister, Mr. Montak Singh Ahluwalia appreciated the increase in the tax revenues of the state. He also assured the Chief Minister that he would soon take up the issues of debt waiver with the Ministry of Finance. He lauded the efforts of the state government for increase in the child sex ratio from 798 to 846 as per latest census figure. Dr. Ahluwalia also agreed to support the state government’s initiative to set up cancer diagnostic project in PPP mode.
In his address, Minister of Planning Mr. Ashwani Kumar assured the Chief Minster for overall support for the various issues raised by the Chief Minister especially for construction of silo for food storage on pilot basis and modification of criteria of allocation of funds under centrally sponsored schemes.
Prominent amongst others who attended the meeting included Deputy Chief Minister Mr. Sukhbir Singh Badal, Local Govt. & Industry Minister Mr. Manoranjan Kalia, Finance & Planning Minister Dr. Upinderjit Kaur, Food & Supplies Minister Mr. Adesh Partap Singh Kairon Vice Chairman State Planning Board Prof. Rajinder Bhandari, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Finance & Planning) Mr. Raj Khurana, Chief Secretary Mr. SC Agrawal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. DS Guru, Principal Secretary Finance KBS Sidhu, Secretary Planning Mr. Satish Chandra, Special Secretary Planning Mrs. Manisha Trigathia Additional Principal Secretary Mr. Gaggandip Singh Brar, Resident Commissioner Punjab Bhawan Mr. K.Siva Prasad and other senior officers of the state government.
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