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Jaya wants funds, Montek ‘just talks’

The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa left Delhi on an angry note on Monday after meeting the Planning Commission deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The meeting was about finalising the plan outlay for her state. The sources say that Ahluwalia rejected her demands, leading to her sudden retreat to Chennai.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader took a dig at Ahluwalia, saying that this meet indicated that her state was being told how to spend its own money.

Jayalalithaa asserted that from the outlay of Rs 28,000 crore allocated to her state, it was getting only Rs 3,000 crore from the centre. She told reporters after the meet, 'We have asked for central assistance, additional assistance under various heads but that was not forthcoming. So, what this entire exercise amounts to is that we have come all the way to Delhi to have discussion and a meeting with the Planning Commission, so that they can tell us how to spend our own money.'

The commission approved the annual plan outlay of Rs 28,000 crore for Tamil Nadu for the financial year 2012-13, which is about 19 per cent higher than that of the previous fiscal. She questioned the utility of such meetings, after her state was not getting adequate resources from the centre.

During the course of discussion with Ahluwalia, she said that Tamil Nadu was focused on increasing the share of manufacturing in the state's economy, improve agriculture productivity, and focus on improving skills and human resources. She added, 'For this a total investment of 15 lakh crore rupees in key infrastructure project is proposed that will trigger and intensify economic growth. The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board will provide the institutional mechanism for speedy appraisal and approval of major infrastructure projects.'

Jayalalithaa said the ambitious goal of the 12th Five Year Plan can be achieved only when good performers are adequately rewarded through more funds and flexibility in the implementation of various schemes and programmes.

As per reports, Ahluwalia said that in the case of the bigger states, most of the resources approved are funded by them. 'These are called annual plan discussions and for the bigger states, most of resources come from the states themselves and the centre gives some funds and then total plan size is approved. These discussion contribute to development process,' he said. The purpose of the annual discussion is not simply to give money, but to discuss issues, added Ahluwalia.


WHY AMMA WANTS MORE

  • Fifteen new medical colleges to be established and the 17 existing medical colleges-cum-district hospitals to be upgraded  
  • Special efforts in agriculture yielded encouraging results, with production increasing by 40%; so she wants more for good work done
  • State has returned to a situation of revenue surplus in 2011-12 and the fiscal deficit as a percentage of GSDP has been contained at 2.85%
  • State has decided to give a special monetary incentive to students in 10th to 12th standards in all government schools
  • In order to correct regional disparities in sectors like health, education, poverty and unemployment through targeted programmes, the government has created the State Balanced Growth Fund with an initial outlay of Rs 100 crore
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