Comments
The delay in communication of the 12th Plan outlay has irked the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture.
In its report on the demands for grants of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education, the Committee said the delay could result in a chain reaction.
“Processes like Expenditure Finance Committee and Standing Finance Committee approvals for various schemes could be interrupted in that chain reaction that follows the delay,” the panel said.
The Committee said if the National Development Council considers the Plan documents in June or July, it will reach EFC and SFC for clearance only in October or November. “The Committee is perturbed to know that since EFC and other approvals can take between six to 18 months, on the average about one year, it would be October/November, 2013 by when most of the approvals would be obtained,” the report said.
The Chairman of the Committee, Mr Basudeb Acharia, has written to the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, requesting him to expedite the finalisation of the 12th Plan so that inordinate delays in project implementation could be avoided. “Parliament also has to discuss the Plan proposals. The UPA Government shows disregard for the House. The House did not discuss the 11th Plan proposals. I fear the 12th Plan proposals will also face the same fate,” Mr Acharia told Business Line . His Committee's report said if the approvals were delayed, items that require more than three to three-and-half years will spill over to the 13th Plan. “The scenario, as such, is reminiscent of what happened during the Eleventh Plan,” the report, tabled in Parliament on Wednesday, said.
Mr Acharia said the CPI (M) has raised the matter in the Business Advisory Committees of both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He said he is expecting the Government to take the proposals for discussion at the earliest. “Otherwise they (the Government) should announce a Plan holiday for one year,” Mr Acharia added.
Comments
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.