Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

PM's closing remarks at the National Development Council Meeting

"I believe that it has been an extremely fruitful day and the discussions have been very constructive. I am very happy that the Chief Ministers have expressed their views quite frankly on what they see as the positive features of the Approach Paper and also the areas where they still have some concerns. We have spent considerable time discussing strategies which will determine the pace and pattern of development of our country, not just in the next five years but in the longer term as well. The richness of the discussion highlights the manifest diversity and complexity of our development requirements and experiences. I thank all of you for active participation and valuable suggestions. All these suggestions will be given careful consideration before drawing up the blueprint of the 11th Five Year Plan.

A few areas have emerged as major areas of common concern across all States. In short, these are education, health, agriculture, irrigation and the persistence of regional imbalances in the level and pace of development. I agree with the general consensus that we need to address the problem of rejuvenating our agriculture with renewed vigour. The problem areas are many as pointed out both in my opening remarks and in your interventions. Quality inputs, water management, irrigation, particularly the need for major inter-state projects, credit availability, use of modern technology, post harvest management and marketing are all areas which need to be attended. The crisis in agriculture in some parts cannot be and must not be allowed to go on.

In this context, I would like to mention that the cooperative credit structure in the country is today in very poor health. As a result, the delivery of agricultural and other credit through cooperative societies has declined sharply in recent years. In order to restore the credit cooperatives to good health, the Government of India have accepted the report of the Vaidyanathan Committee. The implementation of the recommendations will entail a huge cost. I am happy to inform you that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has now approved an agreement with the Government of India to give a loan of US $1 billion for this purpose. The programme will be implemented in states that will come forward to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of India and NABARD to implement the recommendations of the Vaidyanathan Committee. I understand that only six states have signed the MoU so far agreed thus far and seven more have agreed to do so. I would urge the remaining states to sign the MoU as early as possible.

There are many other areas in agriculture that need to be attended to as well. I therefore propose calling a special meeting of the NDC during the budget recess next year to deal exclusively with the issues related to food and agriculture. By that time I hope the report of the sub committee being chaired by my distinguished colleague, Shri Pawar ji, will also be available to us.

In education, there seems to be a widespread consensus that the universal access which we are on the verge of achieving in elementary education must be expanded to the secondary level as well. Secondary education is more complex. The Planning Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development must therefore begin to work on appropriate initiatives for achieving universal access to secondary education in a reasonable period. Several Chief Ministers have referred to the ratio of Centre-State in financing the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. I take note of these concerns, but the issue does require to be considered in a holistic manner taking into account the requirements of all segments of education and I would ask the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Human Resource Development to apply their mind to this complex issue.

Health too is a common area of concern and I am sure the Eleventh Plan document will address the needs of this sector as well and I do agree that there are many parts of our country where public sector intervention in health is absolutely essential to carry conviction with our people and to improve the quality of delivery of services in our country. There are regional imbalances in infrastructure and development, there are problems specific to border regions and problems unique to the far flung regions such as the states in the North East and Jammu & Kashmir. Chief Ministers of North eastern States as well as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir has highlighted the special difficulties these States face in carrying forward the processes of development and the limitations of approaching the public private partnership in addressing their concerns. I take note of these concerns. These are valid concerns and the Planning Commission in the coming months must therefore reflect on all these issues before we formulate the draft of the 11th Five Year Plan. The issue of equitable regional development must be and will be addressed in the Plan document.

Chief Ministers have raised several other issues which are not directly linked to the Plan. There are issues related to mining policy, coal royalty, availability of fuel for power plants, debt market development and taxation. These have been noted and will be looked into by the concerned agencies of the Government. There is one issue of concern to special category states which I feel deserves an immediate response. The demand to pass on external assistance to them in the ratio of 90:10 which has been voiced by nearly all Chief Ministers from these States has, I believe, considerable merit. I propose to revert to the earlier pattern. The details will be communicated in due course of time.

To conclude, I believe that we have reached a broad consensus. I would, like to summarise our decisions:

The National Development Council approves the draft Approach to the Eleventh Five Year Plan and directs the Planning Commission to prepare the Eleventh Plan on the basis of the directions given in this document as well as the suggestions made in this meeting. So the Chief Ministers have my assurance that if some issues have not received the attention in the Approach Document but have been aired, the Planning Commission will be obliged to consider those issues afresh before we come up with the fresh draft of the 11th Five Year Plan and therefore the Planning Commission will prepare the 11th Plan on the basis of the directions given in this document as well as the suggestions made in this meeting and to place the Eleventh Plan document before the NDC at the soonest possible.

The NDC approves the Report of the National Development Council Sub-Committee on Debt Outstandings of the States against the National Small Savings Fund and endorses its recommendations. I would like to compliment the Finance Minister and the members of Sub-Committee for an imaginative solution to a long-standing problem.

The defining characteristic of the path we are about to embark on is not just a high growth ambition, but the focus on inclusiveness and bridging divides. I would, therefore, earnestly request all the Chief Ministers to adopt this Approach Paper as a guiding strategy for preparing their own plans.

Of course, India is a country of great complexity and diversity. So planning in various States will also reflect their specific characteristics, their specific needs, their specific priorities. All this has to be accommodated within the framework of the 11th Five Year Plan. With these words, I once again thank you all for your active participation and cooperation, and I call this 52nd meeting of the National Development Council to a close."