CHENNAI: The State Planning Commission's Approach Paper to the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-2012), released on Tuesday, brought out several "disquieting trends" noticed in the economy of the State over the years.

It has mentioned that the annual growth rates of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Tamil Nadu during the periods of Ninth Plan (1997-2002) and Tenth Plan (up to 2005-06) were 4.9 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively against the all-India figures of 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent. The nature and pattern of the growth pattern in the State has been "somewhat skewed," with both spatial and sectoral imbalances.

Giving importance to what it calls "the agricultural crisis," the document unambiguously says "the primary sector, of which agriculture is the backbone, has been in a crisis through the period 1993-94 to 2005-06."

Noting the reduction in the net sown area in the last 25 years, the Approach Paper, which is available on the State Government's website, says that apart from drought situations, increasing conversion of agricultural land for other purposes is responsible for the development. More than 15 per cent of the area of the State is fallow. The per work productivity in the primary sector is less than a fourth of per worker productivity in the non-primary sector and the gap is widening.

Income deprivation

Even while the relative share of agriculture in the overall economy has declined, nearly 56 per cent of the population continues to be dependent on agriculture and allied activities. "The crisis in agriculture is causing income deprivation among thousands of families of small and marginal farmers and landless labourers dependent on agriculture and forcing the pace of an already existing rural-urban migratory trend," the document says. In this context, it refers to the fact that the large number of persons has turned up to register themselves under the recently-launched National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Conscious of the gravity of the situation, the Chief Minister, in his foreword to the document, states that "in the Eleventh Plan, the State will have to pay particular attention to revitalising the agricultural sector."

Quoting the 2004 National Sample Survey data, the Approach Paper says the growth rate of employment during 1993-94 to 2004 was 0.2 per cent compared to 1.74 per cent during the previous decade (1983 to 1993-94). It has mentioned that the "unprecedented crisis" in the agricultural sector has had "important consequences" on employment generation and livelihood security of rural people.

In the registered and unregistered manufacturing sectors, the estimates of the GSDP at constant prices in 2003-04 were lower than the figures in 2000-01, though there was a slight improvement thereafter. "The major household industrial activities like handloom weaving are also facing serious problems which need to be addressed."

The decline in the number of khadi and village industrial units and the incidence of sickness in small-scale industry necessitate "more comprehensive direct intervention" by the Government.

On human development indices, the document, acknowledging "significant improvements" achieved by the State, says "there are many gaps and disparities to be addressed in terms of access to services and the quality of these services."

It calls for the reduction of infant mortality rates, particularly, female IMRs and maternal mortality.

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