The 12th five-year Plan has a clear set of priorities in the areas of infrastructure, water management, farm output and health and education, according to Mr Saumitra Chaudhari, Member of Planning Commission of India.
First priority
Delivering the keynote address at the fifth Nitte national conference on ‘Development Challenges in the 12th Five-Year Plan,' organised by the Justice K. S. Hegde Institute of Management at Nitte in Udupi district, he said the first priority in the economic domain is to take the task of infrastructure creation forward.
The second priority is to ensure that water is appropriately managed — from harvesting and impounding to its use in various applications and finally to its recycling.
The next priority is to raise and farm output through productivity gains. The thrust will be also on health and education.
Manufacturing
He said manufacturing will have to grow at a more accelerated pace than it has in the last few years. Service and technology are the nerve centres of a modern society. To make this work in a harmonious fashion, the process of growth must pay adequate attention to people's participation and good governance practice, he said.
Stating that India adopted the planning process in 1950, Mr Chaudhari said the Indian economy operated continuously within the broad framework of the Five-Year planning process. In the process of expansion and growing maturity of the Indian economy, there has been a great alteration in the role the Planning Commission, he added.
Dr N. K. Thingalaya, Chairman of the Academic Council of the institute, highlighted the development challenges in the 12th Plan.
Dr M. S. Moodithaya, Director of Global Initiatives of Nitte University, released the abstracts of the conference papers.
Dr G.V. Joshi, convenor of the conference, briefed the theme of the conference and its related aspects. Mr N. Vinay Hegde, Chancellor of Nitte University, presided over the programme.
The Director of the institute, Professor K. Ramesh Karnik, welcomed the gathering. Nearly 40 research papers were presented on the different sub themes of the 12th Five Year Plan at the conference.