Plan panel wants Rs 39,500 cr

Budgetary support needed to implement saat sutra

The Planning Commission has said that it would require an additional Rs 39,500 crore to meet the additional demands on account of the National Common Minimum Programme related programmes and those in the seven sectors or the 'saat sutras' identified by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The Prime M inister had identified agriculture, water, education, health care, employment, urban renewal and infrastructure as the sectors which needed greater attention.

In addition, programmes like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, health, Food for Work, mid-day meal schemes, watershed development, rural electrification, Railways, Roads, Indira Awas Yojana and urban water supply

In a letter written to the finance ministry, the Planning Commission has said that on account of these schemes, the total estimated requirement of Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for the current fiscal would be Rs 1,27,389 crore for Central Sectors.

In addition, due to schemes like the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Scheme, Urban Sanitation Mission, the Backward States Grant Fund as well as inflation, the required allocation for the state sector would be Rs 67,367 crore as against Rs 57,704 crore allocated in the current fiscal.

Asking for a GBS of Rs 1,95,000 crore, the commission had noted that any shortfall in the GBS would fall almost entirely on public investment, especially in key infrastructure sectors like power, roads and irrigation.

This would affect the recovery process and sustained acceleration in growth would become more difficult, the letter said.

Moreover, 2005-06, being the fourth year of the tenth plan, was critical as the corrective measures emerging from the mid-term appraisal had to be implemented this year itself.

"Any shortfall in provisioning for a third year in succession will raise questions on the credibility of our commitment to the NCMP," the letter stated, adding that there was a need to improve the pace of growth by injecting larger public investments in infrastructure sectors.

PLAN DEMAND

• An additional Rs 39,500 crore to meet the additional demands on account of the National Common Minimum Programme and PM's Saat Sutras
• The total estimated requirement of Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) for the current fiscal would be Rs 1,27,389 crore for Central Sectors
• The required allocation for the state sector would be Rs 67,367 crore as against Rs 57,704 crore allocated in the current fiscal
• 2005-06, being the fourth year of the 10th Plan, it is critical that the corrective measures emerging from the mid-term appraisal had to be implemented this year.