23.6.11

West Bengal's annual plan



Chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s appeal for funds from the Capital for Bengal’s bread and butter had more than a sympathetic ear. The Planning Commission approved a nearly 4000-crore jump in the annual allocation for the state, increasing it to 22,214 crore from 17,985 crore. The allocation was finalized at a meeting Mamata had with Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. She made the same ‘bread-and-butter’ to Ahluwalia that she had made on Tuesday as she spoke to the media to explain her demand of 47,000 crore to pull the state out of debt. “First, I will work for bread and butter, then move to malls,” she told Ahluwalia. She said Bengal would give India a new development model while protecting the country’s growth story. The state, she vowed, would generate 10 lakh jobs in two years for which a plan of action would be announced soon. The chief minister also said she was committed to creating a a conducive environment for industry in the state. Her government, she added, had proposed to set up 17 industrial clusters of which five or six would be in areas with high minority population. The state will also come up with a new land policy to help create an environment that would see the revival of 5,000 industrial units crucial to job creation, Mamata told the Plan panel. She also said her administration would focus on e-governance to ensure transparency and better delivery of public services. While she revealed plans to set up 300 diagnostic centres for the poor across the state, the chief minister sought the Plan panel’s assistance to ensure supply of safe drinking water, and in facilitating better connectivity with the state. She demanded air links with eight places, including Malda, Santiniketan, Haldia and the Sunderbans. Ahluwalia said the Plan panel shared Mamata’s concerns . “The Planning Commission heard the vision she has for reviving the economy of West Bengal and giving it a thrust over the next five years. She identified many of the critical areas about which we are also concerned. We have approved a Plan size of 22,214 crore,” Ahluwalia told reporters after the meeting. “The Planning Commission stands ready to support the chief minister not only this year but, more importantly, in the 12th Plan period (2012-17).”

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