Himachal Proposes Rs 5,500cr Outlay In 9th Plan

Himachal Pradesh has proposed an outlay of Rs 5,500 crore in the ninth five-year plan (1997-2002).

An annual plan outlay of Rs 1,008 crore has been proposed for 1997-98, state Chief Minister Veer Bhadra Singh said while inaugurating the two-day meeting with MLAs on plan discussions here yesterday.

Social service sectors would get top priority in the ninth plan with a provision of Rs 2095.53 crore, he said.

This would be followed by agriculture and allied services (Rs 842.80 crore), energy (Rs 839.30 crore), transport and communication (Rs 614.40 crore), general economic services (Rs 334.03 crore), irrigation and flood control (Rs 258.85 crore), rural development (Rs 252.98 crore), industry and mineral development (Rs 210.00 crore), general services (Rs 105.01 crore) and science and technology (Rs 7.08 crore), he said.

The Chief Minister said the general structure of priorities for the annual plan (1997-98) would by and large be the same as proposed in the ninth plan. The priorities for the plan indicate that they are identical to those followed in the last two years of the eighth plan. Singh said the views of the elected representatives were ascertained in the meeting with MLAs to enable the government to incorporate these proposals in the budget documents.

The basic minimum services envisaged under the common minimum programme had been accorded higher priority and allocations had been increased to achieve the targets, Singh said.

The Chief Minister said it was necessary to identify the schemes in roads and bridges and water supply sectors so that the unconnected areas were linked by road and uncovered areas were provided water.

Singh said one of the most significant aspects of the eighth plan had been the pre-eminence accorded to the social services sector. While the share of outlay approved for the social services sector originally in the eighth plan was 29.9 per cent, actual investment would be around 35 per cent of the aggregate expenditure.

This incremental investment in the social services sector had resulted in significant improvement in the availability of social infrastructure and raised the social development indicators to a level higher than the national averages, he claimed.

Singh said the strategy included initiating a programme of rural housing under Gandhi Kutir Yojana started on October 2, 1994 which envisages construction of 72,000 units by the end of 1998-99.

He said a target had been fixed to universalise primary education by the end of 1997-98, under which 2,100 primary schools were being opened in the state to provide access to all eligible children within a kilometre. By the end of 1996-97, a total of 1,400 of these schools would start operations.

Singh said provision of health care in all panchayats by the end of the year 2000 had been envisaged under which health infrastructure was being expanded systematically to cover every panchayat. Provision of safe drinking water to all not covered habitations by the end of 1997-98 was aimed at. He hoped central support would be obtained for the purpose.

The Chief Minister said providing a veterinary dispensary for every two panchayats by the end of 1997-98 and setting up a tailoring centre in every panchayat by the end of 1997-98 was another feature of the plan.

He said that to ensure that posts in tribal areas were filled, the government was contemplating making it mandatory for every official or officers to serve these areas once in every cadre. Such official or officers could also be given weightage in promotion, he added.

He said the schemes reflected in the budget and the plan should be implemented vigorously and any laxity in this regard would be viewed seriously.