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Onus on Chauhan to propel M.P. on path of development

Staff Correspondent

Credit rating of the State in the financial market has improved over the last two years

BHOPAL : Two years after coming to power and with two Chief Ministers -- Uma Bharti and Babulal Gaur -- already sidelined, the mood remains upbeat in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party circles and this was amply reflected by the new Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, who asserted soon after taking the oath of office that he has inherited a healthy fiscal legacy and now it is for him to carry forward the State on the fast track of development.

The credit rating of Madhya Pradesh in the financial market has improved over the last two years and this also gets reflected by the over-subscription of development loans floated by the State Government. When contacted, an official spokesman said that uncontrolled increase in non-plan expenditure in the `90s had led to constantly increasing revenue deficit. Consequently, large portions of the borrowings were spent on non-Plan expenditure and this had became the common practice for several years. The State Government's liabilities constantly went up and the amount borrowed was not being spent effectively on asset building activities and there was always shortage of funds when it came to building the economic infrastructure, he added.

Reflecting on the positive turnaround due to "better fiscal management", an official spokesman pointed out that the Union Government of India and the Reserve Bank had recognised the State Government's performance on the fiscal management front and the Centre had even provided a special incentive of Rs. 263 crores to the State and the largest Annual Plan so far of Rs. 7,471 crores had also been sanctioned. Budgetary provisions for focused areas like energy, public works, water resources, backward classes welfare, education and health have also been increased substantially in comparison with the previsions years.

The official spokesman said the State Government gave top priority to construction and upgrading of roads. In the next three years, about 10,000 km of roads would be constructed and improved in the State. The last two years have seen construction of close to 12, 000 km of roads in the State and work on another 3, 000 km is currently in progress. This year 1, 000 villages are also to be linked with roads.

In the year 2005-06 the State has received Rs. 137 crores for National Highways, Rs. 93 crores from Central Road Fund and Rs. 25 crores as special Central assistance. Country's largest road construction project under the BoT (build operate and transfer) scheme is also being implemented in Madhya Pradesh. A total of 1670 km of 11 different highways are being constructed under the BoT mode and 1133 kms of these roads have been constructed in the last two year period.

Similarly, construction of 1602 km roads has been taken up with the financial assistance of the Asian Development Bank. In last two years, 1116 km of National Highways have been upgraded at a cost of Rs. 235 crore in the State. Under the Central Road Fund 349 km of roads have been constructed and improved at a cost of Rs. 85 crores while under the Fast Track scheme 3095 km of roads have been upgraded at a cost of Rs. 168 crores. Similarly, under a NABARD funded project, a sum of Rs. 146 crores has been spent on construction and improvement of 1301 km of roads.

The newly constructed Indira Sagar Project has started generating 1, 000 MW of power and work on another project for generation of 700 MW thermal power has been started. Since December 2003, work has also been speeded on Amarkantak, Birsinghpur and Omkareshwar projects. On being contacted, a senior State Water Resource department official pointed out that the State Government has given top priority to augmenting the irrigation potential. The target is to increase irrigation facility from 39 percent to 50 percent. A budget provision of Rs. 1735 crores has been made this year for this purpose. This is Rs. 207 crores more than the revised estimates of last year. Provision has also been made for survey of 198 new irrigation projects having a potential to create irrigation potential for 86, 000 hectare.

The State Government has also embarked upon a Rs. 1919 crores water sector re-structuring project to restore irrigation facility in about 4.5 lakh hectare in 30 districts. These districts are Indore, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Shajapur, Rajgarh, Bhind, Morena, Sheopur, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Guna, Vidisha, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Rewa, Panna, Damoh, Ashoknagar, Bhopal, Sehore, Sidhi , Satna , Katni , Raisen , Sagar, Dewas, Dhar, Ratlam and Ujjain.

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Onus on Chauhan to propel M.P. on path of development

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