Tripura CM stresses fresh prioritisation of planning

By Our Correspondent

Agartala, Jul 25, 2010 : Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar has called for fresh prioritisation of planning in the country for equitable and inclusive development of all sections of people and removal of regional imbalance in growth. He asserted that unless priorities were fixed afresh the national goal of removing poverty, malnutrition , illiteracy and facing emerging challenges could never be fulfilled . The chief minister was speaking in a meeting of the national development council chaired by the prime minister in Delhi's 'Vigyan Bhawan' auditorium yesterday. 'The dream of making India a developed state is yet to materialise , though there is talk of balanced growth the gap between the rich and poor is widening ; besides, the fruits of development still remain elusive for the poor and marginal people' said the chief minister . He said that planning must be done with participation of people and after proper assessment of their requirements ; at the same time steps must be initiated to ensure fair distribution of national wealth.Regarding Northeast Sarkar said that the gap between a handful of developed states of the country and northeastern states was widening . 'There is an inherent contradiction in the growth history of the country ; while some geographically advantaged states are making rapid strides on the development path the states of northteast have been languishing in poverty, backwardness , low per capita income and a host of other problems spawned by geographical isolation ; this state of affairs can end only if special initiative is taken to ensure development of northeast' said Sarkar, charging the Centre with failure to remove the problem of regional discrimination vis-a-vis northeast.

The chief minister also highlighted Tripura's success in implementing five year plan for development . 'For the eleventh five year plan Tripura had been allocated a total amount of Rs 8852 crores out of which Rs 3130 crores were to be utilised within the first three years and here I can say that our success rate is 106% in this regard' said Sarkar . He also resented the low allocation of non-plan funds made by the 13th finance commission for Tripura and held this responsible for the resource constraints being currently faced by the state government. 'For reasons best known to the commission only 61% of our requriements have been sanctioned by the 13th finance commission because of gross under-assessment made by them and unless the Centre offset the adverse effects of the Commission at least partially we will be in a crisis situation' said the chief minister , adding that Centre must ensure easier and liberal fund flow to help the states tide over their economic woes as a matter of constitutional responsibility.