More social sector schemes in 12th Plan

The government will not have any new social sector flagship schemes in the ongoing Eleventh Five-Year Plan period (2007-12) though schemes for benefitting the socially and economically backward population will be its focus in the next Plan.

Among the social sector schemes introduced in the Eleventh Plan were the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) and Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Though the government is also planning to introduce a scheme for food security, it may be the only addition during the current plan. “The Twelfth Plan (2012-17) will have even more (flagship schemes). The schemes will not be redistribution schemes. It would not be the direct transfer of money from the government to the people, but a scheme in which people would buy their own partnership and create their own wealth,” Planning Commission member Arun Maira told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on ‘Quality of Growth’.

The preparatory work for the new schemes and the mid-term review for the Eleventh Plan has already started. Maira said the mid-term appraisal of the Eleventh Plan period would focus on making existing social schemes better and more efficient. He stressed the need to strengthen the existing schemes rather than going for more schemes in the short-term period.

“During the mid-term review of the Eleventh Plan, we would review the quality of our present flagship schemes. These may need further strengthening and the discussion would further lead to plan some new schemes in Twelfth Plan,” he added.

He said that the long-term strategy of the Plan panel was to boost the rural economy in the next 10 years. “The quality of our growth has to be large and inclusive. So, that we can say in 10 or 15 years, we have achieved these millennium development goals like little or no poverty, or increased inclusion of women in governance and other activities,” Maira added.