The annual plan outlay of Uttar Pradesh for 2011-12 has jumped almost 15 per cent to Rs 47,000 crore. This substantial hike would allow UP greater maneuverability in piloting its various social sector infrastructure schemes, including health and education.
Planning Commission deputy chairperson, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, approved the annual plan of UP yesterday in a meeting with senior state government officials led by state chief secretary Anoop Mishra. However, economists have suggested social audit to control pilferage and ensure qualitative spending along with quantitative rise in plan outlay in context of UP.
“There has been significant rise in annual plan allocation to UP in the last 3-4 years and this year also it is a substantial amount, but it must be utilised properly,” Giri Institute of Development Studies director (GIDS) and economist, A K Singh told Business Standard. “There should be social audit of the expenditure incurred in plan outlay for ascertaining its judicious use,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lucknow University (LU) professor of economics, Mohd Muzammil, noted the size of plan outlay per se was immaterial in present context, since states had the responsibility of mobilising sizeable share of development funds. “The percentage of central assistance to states should be increased per se, since if the states themselves had the capacity to mop up money, they would have developed by now,” he underlined.
Muzammil pointed to the poor utilisation capacity of UP for plan money and suggested time-bound blueprint of social development programmes for every financial year.
The average growth rate of UP has risen from 5.2 per cent during tenth Five Year Plan to 7 per cent in the past four years. The average expenditure against sanctioned schemes stood at 98 per cent. UP has demanded the Centre declare all development blocks of Mirzapur, Sonebhadra and Bundelkhand regions as Drought Prone Area Development Programme blocks.
Besides, the state wants 323 community health centres, 700 primary HCs and 6,829 health sub-centres sanctioned under National Rural Health Mission and an additional amount of Rs 300 crore for housing of the weaker sections living in rural areas. Meanwhile, UP has demanded coal allocation for power projects.
Due to steps to encourage private investment, proposals worth Rs 1,72,000 crore had so far come to UP, of which projects worth Rs 71,628 crore were already underway.Besides, bidding for projects worth Rs 46,722 crore had started and projects worth Rs 53,000 crore were in pipeline.
