States Warned Against Diversion Of Plan Funds

The full Planning Commission yesterday warned states against diversion of resources to non-plan activities and said only those states that perform would get incentives.

At a full body meeting of the commission, the first to be chaired by Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral, it was also decided to convene meeting of the National Development Council in September for adoption of the ninth plan.

Stating that states should stop diverting assistance under Centres various schemes, the commission said, the incentives would be only for those states, which perform.

Taking note of competitive populism by some states in doling out free power and irrigation facilities, the commission felt that allocation of new schemes and additional assistance to states would be determined on the basis of their performance, deputy chairman Madhu Dandavate told reporters here after the meeting.

 

Voicing concern over the massive shortfall in resource mobilisation by states aggregating Rs 64,000 crore, he said, shortfall arose from a negative Rs 31,000 crore balance of current revenue (BCR) by states for the ninth plan period as against working group estimation of Rs 33,000 of BCR.

Stating that effective and result-oriented planning could be realised only through effective de-centralised approach in both formulation and implementation of development projects, Gujral emphasised the need for time-bound completion of programmes in priority areas.

Enumerating human resource development, poverty alleviation and infrastructure as key areas, he asked the planning commission to evolve an effective monitoring mechanism to guard against slippages and cost and time overruns in implementation.

While the country can look back with pride on the strong foundations laid by the planning process, the challenges ahead include taking the country on the road to faster economic growth while simultaneously achieving a real reduction in poverty levels.

Regarding bottlenecks in infrastructure development, the Prime Minister said top priority should be given towards implementing the recommendations of the National Development Council (NDC) committee on power, besides the common minimum national action plan on power.

Unless we are able to pick up this one dimension of energy, we are no where, he said, adding that the commission should redouble its efforts to formulate realistic plans on this front.