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`Focus on infrastructure'

Staff Correspondent

More fund for expenditure on power and road: Chauhan

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, completes hundred days in office on Wednesday.

According to political observers here, his focus has been on fiscal discipline and generation of optimum resources to build up infrastructure as well as fund special schemes in social sector.

The Chief Minister, who has drawn huge crowds at his recent public meetings in Raisen, Vidisha, Sagar, Rewa, Jhabua and Dewas, exudes confidence and appears undeterred by former Chief Minister Uma Bharti's tirade and Janadesh Yatra. He has also been using his public speaking skills as well as his rural background to instantly build a rapport with farmers and village folks.

Talking to The Hindu on the eve of his hundredth day in office, the Chief Minister said that all his efforts had been geared towards ensuring budgetary support for infrastructure and the social sector. He said this year's Budget proved that the Government could increase revenues and was able to raise the expenditure on power, irrigation, road and in social sector.

He pointed out that 8.11 per cent of the budgetary allocation for 2006-07 had been earmarked for school education, whereas in 2003-04 the School Education Department's share was 6.7 per cent. Similarly, the budgetary share of the Health Department has gone up from 2.6 per cent in 2003-04 to 3.05 per cent in 2006-07.

The Chief Minister said budgetary provision under the Tribal Sub-Plan had been increased by Rs. 190 crores in comparison with last year. This is 21.65 per cent of the Government's total Plan expenditure. Besides, he said, the Government could get the Planning Commission's approval for a record Rs. 9,020 crores for the State Plan expenditure.

Mr. Chauhan said his Government could achieve the fiscal targets set by the Union Government based on the recommendations of the Eleventh Finance Commission. The Chief Minister said that due to a negative opening balance, the fiscal year 2006-07 would close with a deficit of Rs. 48.55 crores. However, there would be a revenue surplus for the first time in 13 years and the surplus money would be used for the much-needed capital expenditure.

He said that in the last two years the State Government had constructed over 10,000 kilometres of roads with an outlay of Rs. 858 crores and in the next three years more than Rs. 4,000 crores would be spent on upgrading another 16,200 km. In the same period, work on 25,000 km of roads would be taken up by the Rural Roads Development Authority, he added.

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