FACING THE REALITIES: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addresses the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi on Monday. Dr. Singh scaled down the growth rate to 7-8 per cent and asked the Chief Ministers to explore the possibility of doubling the farm output in 10 years. PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday projected a growth rate of seven and eight per cent for the rest of the Tenth Plan. He exhorted the National Development Council (NDC) to approve and implement the correctives enunciated in the Planning Commission's Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) with special emphasis on agricultural reforms.

Addressing the Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors while inaugurating the two-day 51st meeting of the Council, Dr. Singh conceded that the original Tenth Plan growth target of 8.1 per cent could not be achieved, mainly on account of the sagging farm sector growth, which is perceived to have deprived the rural poor of substantial attendant benefits.

``We cannot achieve the original Tenth Plan target of eight per cent growth over the Plan period as a whole ... The Mid-Term Appraisal shows that performance thus far is well below this target, averaging 6.5 per cent in the past three years,'' he said. This was perceived as a dig at the performance of the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance regime.

ON THE DAIS: Ministers Lalu Prasad and Arjun Singh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia. _ PHOTO: V.V. KRISHNAN

Dr. Singh said: ``Our Government set a target of taking growth to somewhere between seven and eight per cent and this is what we should aim for in the last two years of the Tenth Plan.'' The cornerstone of the Tenth Plan strategy was a reversal of the declining trend in the farm growth rate by setting a target of four per cent.

However, ``unfortunately, the actual performance of agriculture appears to have deteriorated even further and will possibly not exceed 1.5 per cent growth during the first three years of the Plan,'' he said. Hence the need for corrective steps to tackle the problems that ``go beyond weather'' and ``must be accorded the highest priority.''

While stressing the need to act on several fronts as also on public-private partnership to better infrastructure and remove financial constraints, the Prime Minister asked the Chief Ministers to explore the possibility of doubling agricultural output in 10 years. He suggested the formation of an NDC sub-committee ``to work out the necessary steps for concrete action.''

Turning to infrastructure development, Dr. Singh picked up two specific areas. One was the dire need to overcome power shortage, and the other the need to create an environment to attract both public and private funds in the sector.

``For this, the financial health of the electricity agencies in the States has to be restored, which cannot be accomplished without a reduction of AT&C [average transmission & commercial] losses 10 percentage points in two years with your support and commitment'' and ``focus on providing quality power at appropriate prices.''

On improving the quality of the administration in districts, the Prime Minister said civil servants should be given the ``minimum security of tenure'' as changes without notice and short tenures did not produce accountable results.

GREETINGS: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit with Tamil Nadu's Jayalalithaa. - PHOTO: V.V.KRISHNAN

The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, outlined the positive aspects of the economy while giving an overview of the corrective action required to bring the economy back on track in line with the targets of the Tenth Plan.

Dr. Ahluwalia said that inflation, a major concern in mid-2004, was under check while industrial growth had picked up.

The savings rate was high and the fiscal deficit had been contained.

On the weaknesses that were thwarting higher growth and, therefore, required ``urgent corrective action,'' he picked on the deceleration in agriculture, the inadequacies in infrastructure, the regional imbalances, the growing level of unemployment as also the shortfalls in meeting the social sector targets.

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