Rs 67,800 cr Plan size proposed, 8% growth in economy projected
By Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 16: The draft of 12th Five Year Plan for Jammu and Kashmir has been prepared as per the approach paper and Guidelines for Classification of Expenditure issued by the Planning Commission of India and the same will be placed before the State Cabinet very shortly for discussion and approval.
Authoritative sources told EXCELSIOR that exercise for preparation of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) for Jammu and Kashmir, which was started in the month of December last year by the Planning and Development Department of the State Government, has now been completed strictly in accordance with the approach paper and Guidelines for Classification of Expenditure issued by the Planning Commission of India.
Disclosing that presentation vis-à-vis draft of 12th Five Year Plan has already been made before some top officers of the Government including the Chief Secretary, Madhav Lal, sources disclosed that draft would be placed before the State Cabinet very shortly for discussion and approval, adding Planning Commission of India has already asked the State Government to get ready for making presentation on the 12th Five Year Plan of the State on a date to be finalized and conveyed by the Commission in near future.
Sources disclosed that size of 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017) has been proposed at Rs 67,800 crore. This includes Rs 8,630 crore revenue component and remaining capital component. It has also been proposed that one-fifth of the committed revenue expenditure should be transferred to the non-plan every year during the plan period.
As per the draft, all the works which were started during the 10th and 11th Five Year Plan would be completed during the 12th Five Year Plan. For the new works and schemes during the 12th Five Year Plan, an amount of Rs 20,000 crore has been proposed.
“In the draft, power, road connectivity, education, health, irrigation and rural development have been declared as priority sectors”, they informed, adding “major portion of the Plan Investment would be spent on the productive sectors like agriculture, horticulture, dairy development and industries”.
Stating that during the 11th Five Year Plan the growth rate was 6 per cent, sources said that average growth of 7.5 per cent during the entire 12th Five Year Plan period has been projected in the draft, adding starting from 7 per cent in 2012, the growth rate would reach up to 8 per cent in 2017, the last year of the 12th Five Year Plan.
As far as employment avenues are concerned, around 6.40 lakh additional job opportunities are likely to be generated during the 12th Five Year Plan. These includes 1.20 lakh salaried jobs, 4.40 lakh self employment and 80,000 casual labourers, sources said quoting the draft.
For the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA), an amount of Rs 13,000 crore has been proposed for the 2012-2017 period during which 36 crore mandays are likely to be generated, sources said.
In the draft, integration of NREGA works programme with line departments particularly in respect of road connectivity, flood protection and irrigation works has been suggested to maximize the achievement, sources said.
About the energy sector, which has always been flagged as priority area in the State, the draft has proposed Rs 17,235 crore while as for the social services sector an amount of over Rs 20,000 has been proposed for the 12th Five Year Plan. “In the social services sector, there will be massive hike during the 2012-2017 period as during the 11th Five Year Plan, the allocation was Rs 834 crore”, sources said.
Similarly, as against Rs 1696 crore allocation during the 11th Five Year Plan, an amount of Rs 2947 crore has been proposed during the 12th Five Year Plan for the irrigation and flood control sector, sources said while disclosing that for the first time creation of State Innovation Fund has been proposed for e-governance and transparency initiatives.
It is worthwhile to mention here that 13th Finance Commission has already sanctioned Rs one crore for each district of the State for e-governance.
Even Kandi Development Programme has been proposed to be introduced during the 12th Five Year Plan with the allocation of Rs 400 crore. The allocation for the Tribal Sub-Plan and special component for welfare of SC/ST has also been worked out in the draft of the 12th Five Year Plan, sources said.
It is pertinent to mention here that for the preparation of the draft of 12th Five Year Plan, the Government had engaged two experts– S Mahajan, former Secretary, Planning and Development Department, and G A Qureshi, former Director General, Economics and Statistics Organization.
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