Uttarakhand Plan for 2012-13 Finalized
New Delhi, July 16: The Annual Plan for the year 2012-13 for the state of Uttarakhand was finalised here today at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Mr. Vijay Bahuguna. The plan size has been agreed at Rs8, 200crore.
In his comments on the plan performance of the State, Mr Ahluwalia said the commission is fully aware of the infrastructure deficit in the State and their constraint in meet the cost of infrastructure development, He said the State need to further encourage private sector participation in infrastructure development. Improved infrastructure would help the State in fully tapping the potential in sectors like tourism while catalysing economic activity in all regions of the State.
Attention was also drawn to problems in the human development including dropout rate in education and minority welfare. Members of the Commission pointed out that the States could help central Government in improving efficiency of the centrally sponsored schemes by pointing out problems in implementation. They were of the opinion that suggestions from State would help in timely corrections and thus help in reaching targets.
The Gross State Domestic Product at Constant Prices (2004-05) of Uttarakhand has increased from Rs.24786 crore to Rs.55606 crore during 2004-05 to 2011-12 while All India GDP at Constant Prices has increased from Rs.2971464 crore to Rs.5222027 crore during the same period. Since 2004-05 to 2011-12, the GSDP of Uttarakhand has increased by 124.34% while all India GDP has increased to 75.74%.The GSDP growth of Uttarakhand was much higher than the national average of GDP growth during the period.
The Per Capita Income of Uttarakhand has increased by the 93.44% from Rs.24726/- to Rs.47831/- during 2004-05 to 2011-12 while the all India per capita income has increased by 57.42% from Rs.24143/- to Rs.38005/- during the same period. The average growth in Per Capita Income of Uttarakhand during 2004-05 to 2011-12 was 9.92% which is lower than the growth in all India per capita income of 6.70% during the same period.
The Chief Minister pointed out that only 18% persons are below poverty line in the State against 32.7% in 2004-05. Rural poverty during the same period improved from 35.1 to 14.1 per cent while urban poverty was 25.2% in 2009-10 against 26.2% in 2004-05. He said the 12th Five Year Plan will target the poverty and unemployment as the most serious challenges for the development planning in the State. Infrastructure, Agriculture & Allied Sectors Water & Irrigation, Industry, Power, Tourism, Education & Skill Development and Medical & Health would be the major sectors to be focused during 12th Five Year Plan.
He said being a hill-State, the State would appreciate a Comprehensive Water Management Programme which would look at irrigation, flood control, water recharging and soil conservation measures in a holistic way. The State renders ecological services to the country which has been estimated by various studies to be between Rs.25, 000-40,000 per annum.
He said the need is to ensure livelihood security, economic growth and equity to align the people of the border areas with the national mainstream. Strengthening of socio-economic infrastructure in this area is beyond any argument for the safety of the nation. He said because of the strategic nature of the State, there is strong case for developing a wide network of railways to all district as a strategic defence initiative. Similarly there is a need to take up development of airports, airstrips and helipads as a strategic defence, tourist and disaster management initiative.
The State Government has identified livelihood security, economic security, energy security, conservation of environment and forests as policy fundamentals for the development of the State and for this purpose proposed a 12th plan of Rs.55229.91 crore of which 56.25% is allocated to economic services 41.15% to social services.
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