Annual Plans Of 4 States Okayed
The Planning Commission has assured Tamil Nadu that it would support the state government's move to set up a pension fund and go in for larger market borrowings to raise additional resources in 1998-99.
Tamil Nadu government was also assured that Chennai would be included among the cities to be developed as hi-tech information technology (IT) habitat centres.
The National Informatics Centre will be asked to provide satellite links for the purpose as soon as the state government identified the site for setting up the IT centre.
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The commission also finalised the state's 1998-99 annual plan for Rs 4,500 crore at a meeting yesterday attended by Planning Commission deputy chairman Jaswant Singh and Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.
The Plan panel has so far finalised the annual Plans of Delhi, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Meghalaya. The annual plan for Meghalaya which was finalised yesterday, has been fixed at Rs 400 crore.
The Plan size for Tripura had been fixed at Rs 440 crore.
Tamil Nadu's plan size for the current year represents an increase of 12 per cent over 1997-98 which was Rs 4004 crore.
Speaking on the occassion, Singh said the planning body was in principal opposed to the idea of penalising states which performed better in order to provide a larger slice of allocation to poor states under anti-poverty schemes.
He assured Tamil Nadu that Central assistance for poverty alleviation and rural development would not be allowed to decline below the 15 per cent mark.
The deputy chairman of planning body has also promised to take up with the concerned union ministries the issue of market development assistance for handloom co-operatives and the problems faced by the textile industry in the state.
Though he praised the state's performance in implementing last year's plan, Singh drew Karunanidhi's attention to the deterioting financial conditions of state undertakings like its electricity board and road transport corporation.
On his part, the Chief Minister assured Planning Commission of the state's efforts to achieve 7 per cent growth in the Ninth Plan period.
In his meeting with Meghalaya Chief Minister B B Lyngdoh, Singh said the planning body recognised the problems faced by special category states due to resource constraints and infrastructural difficulties. He promised more Central assistance for infrastructure and make it possible for the state to generate more revenue.