GUWAHATI, May 4 — The State government has identified five thrust areas during the 10th Five Year Plan for accelerated growth of the State. Three thrust areas include – infrastructure including roads, power and communication, agriculture and allied services including dairy, pisciculture, irrigation, services including information technology, tourism and health care, human resource development including education; skill development and management and industrial development with emphasis on trade and commerce, agro industry, handloom and handicrafts etc.
During his recent discussion with the Planning Commission to finalise the state’s plan for the year 2003-2004, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi said that emphasis has been given on attaining a higher growth rate of the economy during the 10th plan period. He said that the growth rate target for Assam for the 10th Plan is 6.2 per cent against the growth rates of 2.8 and 2.1 per cent in the last two five year plans. During the last year of the 9th plan period, the growth rate of Assam was 3.2 per cent. As per an assessment, the total resources required to achieve the growth rate target would be Rs 25000 crore, while the resources estimated to be received by the state during the 10th Plan as per discussion with the Planning Commission is Rs 8315 crore. This leaves a resources gap of around Rs 17,000 crore, Gogoi pointed out. He also said that Assam would not be able to achieve the targeted growth rate without special support in the form of central assistance.
The Chief Minister disclosed that the State government has constituted a committee to review all the ongoing projects under the annual plan so that the projects which are nearing completion can be given priority on allocation of funds. The committee has already completed the review of the projects under Flood Control, Irrigation and Public Health Engineering departments, and identified the projects need to be completed on priority basis.
Gogoi pointed out that realising the importance of controlling floods and water management to the economy of the state, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda had assured to provide 100 per cent Central grant for all flood control projects of the river Brahmaputra. But the state government has not received any central loan assistance fund in recent past for the projects already approved by the Planning Commission, leave alone receiving grants, he added.