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Finalising the plan strategy

Now that the Eleventh Five Year Plan's draft is under discussion and the Planning Commission has invited comments and responses from Union Ministries and States, some serious issues have been flagged for a review. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Union Minister for Human Resources Development Arjun Singh have raised some critical issues in their responses. The CPI (M) General Secretary Prakash Karat has even said that his party would come up with an alternative paper or proposal. The focus now appears to be squarely on growth strategies. Nobody is against aiming for a GDP growth rate of 8 to 9 per cent, but the only concern seems to be that any growth strategy must be "inclusive." It cannot afford to widen the gap between the rich and the poor any further. Which is why, the protagonists of social justice and balanced growth advocate an inclusive approach — something that is also an integral part of the draft plan paper circulated by the Planning Commission.

There is already a national consensus among political parties that basic issues such as poverty alleviation, employment generation, streamlining of the Public Distribution System, and food security should get priority attention in any action plan for development. Truly reflecting these shared concerns, the National Common Minimum Programme, formulated by the ruling United Progressive Alliance and endorsed by its backers, gives considerable weightage to poverty reduction and employment generation as the committed objectives. The Manmohan Singh Government is expected, indeed duty-bound, to implement the NCMP assigning the right priorities to its various components. In the circumstances, one fails to understand why there should be any debate at all about making these issues the core of the Eleventh Plan. Stranger still is that some political leaders in Government should seek to bring the `reservations' issue into the debate on the draft Plan. Important as it certainly is for social justice and equity, the matter clearly belongs to a different domain and any attempt to inject it into the Plan will prove diversionary. A recent finding of the National Sample Survey has shown that on an average the percentage of the population below the poverty line has declined annually by 0.74 point since 1993-94, and 0.79 from 1999-2000. More than the rate of decline, it is the absolute numbers that are the cause for concern. It is now estimated that 220 to 230 million people still live below the poverty line. Instead of trying to score political debating points, the Centre, the State Governments and the political leadership must put their heads together in giving shape to a plan that will provide an imaginative framework for taking the national economy on to the high growth trajectory without ignoring the socio-economic imperatives. It is vital that the Eleventh Plan goals and strategy are spelt out in a manner that leaves no room for ambiguity or controversy over what the Plan seeks to achieve and how.

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