CM, Planning panel fail to meet on outlay plan

Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Planning commission officials failed to discuss the state's outlay plan for fiscal 2005-2006 on February 21, as the proposal reached the Commission on the same day only.

The plan outlay of Rs 10,000 crore, submitted by the state planning department, was hiked to Rs 12,156 crore first by the planning sub-committee (state department) and against to Rs 16,000 crore between January 12 and February 18.

The Union planning commission is believed to have expressed doubts of clearing more than a Rs 5,000 crore outlay plan for the state in the next fiscal and has scheduled March 3 as the next date for consultations.

Secretariat sources said while the draft plan was readied by the state planning department on January 10, the same came up before the planning sub-committee on January 12 where this was raised to Rs 12,156 crore.

"Thereafter, the minutes of the meeting remained pending the signature of Maharashtra finance minister Jayant Patil till the first week of February after which (and following written remarks by Patil) it was sent back with chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's signature to the planning department on February 11 with a further increased plan outlay draft proposal of nearly Rs 16,000 crore.

Although February 12 and 13 were state holidays, the planning department asked its employees to remain present and sought department wise Budget details before directing the state printing press to publish 400 copies of the draft plan outlay to be submitted to the Union planning commission," the secretariat official said.

The printed copies were rushed to New Delhi on February 19 and reached the desks of the planning commission officials only on February 21 morning, the day Deshmukh was slated to meet these officials.

"Union planning commission officials said that they needed minimum eight days to scrutinise the draft plan outlay and hence declined to hold the meeting. Though the state sought a fresh date of February 25 for the meeting, a March 3 date has been slotted by the Planning commission to discuss the plan," the official added.

Even as the cancellation of the meeting has assumed political overtones, an effort seems to be ongoing to affix responsibility for the lapses (delay in submitting the draft plan outlay to the Union planning commission) upon state planning department officials.