Final Draft Of Ninth Plan To Be Circulated Next Fortnight

The Planning Commission will circulate the final draft of the Ninth Plan in the next fortnight.

This decision comes in the face of stiff resistance from different ministries, who are opposed to accepting lower levels of budgetary support.

The plan panel wants to circulate the final draft soon to make it difficult for the new government to tinker with its basic format. The main idea is to avoid a two-year plan holiday, which will result if the new government decides to change the plans basic structure.

The governments focus has shifted towards social and welfare sectors during the plan drafting exercise, forcing the plan panel to indicate lower plan outlay for sectors covered by infrastructure ministries.

 

Sources said the power, surface transport and railways ministries have expressed unhappiness over the allocations proposed to them.

Some of the ministries have asked for higher targets for market borrowings. But, we have to consider their ability to service high levels of debt. Besides, budgetary support to various ministries is restricted by the overall budgetary support approved by the finance ministry, a plan panel source said. Efforts by Planning Commission deputy chairman Madhu Dandavate to persuade Prime Minister I K Gujral to preside over a meeting of the plan body to approve the final draft have proved to be unsuccessful.

The plan body was hoping that the cabinet will approve the plan before the new government is formed, but there seems to be no indication of this.

Given this scenario, it is possible that the aggrieved ministries may try and block the Commissions move to circulate the final draft.

The decision to circulate the final draft follows the promise of the Bharatiya Janata Party to review the entire Plan document. The party has also called for a 9-10 per cent rate of growth in gross domestic product as against the 7 per cent envisaged in the plan document.

The BJP has talked about a 30 per cent rate of domestic savings against the current rate of 22 per cent. This is an extremely high target and cannot be met, a plan member said.