The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : 11th Plan to focus on agriculture

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 02, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

11th Plan to focus on agriculture

Staff Reporter

Infrastructure will be the other thrust area

Bangalore: The draft document of the Eleventh Five Year Plan will be placed before the National Development Council meeting in September, and it would articulate aspirations of the all the States while focusing on agriculture sector and urban infrastructure, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said here on Tuesday.

Speaking to presspersons after a meeting with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa and Planning Minister Ramachandra Gowda, Mr. Ahluwalia said during the meeting, an effort was made to ascertain the priorities of the State ahead of the drafting of the Eleventh Plan. Agriculture had emerged as the crucial issue that needed to be addressed, and his perception had also been the same.

The other important sector was the urban infrastructure, particularly now that the ambitious Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was in place, to meet the infrastructure needs of 63 cities. Mr. Ahluwalia said the Chief Minister had conveyed the thinking in the State Government that NURM should focus more on tier II cities. "This will help reverse the migration trend, and decongest cities like Bangalore." At the same time, the focused planning for building more airports, boosting tourism sector, and broadening access to education, would be a part of Plan goals.

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