The Annual Plan for 2013-14 for the State of Goa was finalised today at a meeting between ShriMontek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission and Sh. ManoharParrikar, Chief Minister of Goa. The Plan size has been agreed at Rs. 4,715 crore which includes the central assistance to the State Plan of about Rs. 225 crore. In addition, an amount of over Rs.100 crore is likely to flow from the Centre to Goa through various Centrally Sponsored Schemes. Thus, taking all resources, Plan assistance from the Central Government to the State of Goa is expected to be over Rs.400 crore during 2013-14.
In his comments on the plan performance of the State, Mr Ahluwalia said the State has been doing well and achievements in all sectors of the economy are satisfactory. He said Goa is an economically developed progressive State and has great local advantage. He said the State needs to further encourage private participation in the development of both social and physical infrastructure. Mr Ahluwalia said that the sectors like health and education should have renewed thrust in the plan. The States should engage themselves in continuous evaluation of the major social sector programmes so as to help Commission in having a realistic assessment and opportunity for timely intervention wherever needed.
The State continues to be one of the better performing State™s in the country in terms of various socio-economic indicators. However, still there are many issues/challenges which need to be addressed during the 12th Plan. The State™s performance in Agriculture and allied sector needs improvement as the growth rate of agriculture is continuously declining when compared to the per-capita income in other sectors. The declining interest towards agriculture may be attributed to small land holdings, high cost of wages and non-availability of agriculture labourers. There is a need to have a long term strategy for agriculture sector to achieve self-sufficiency in perishable & high value agriculture products.
The State Government should make all kinds of efforts to cover all the urban areas with sewerage network using latest technology to achieve the goal of total sanitation & clean environment in the State. Planning Commission offered full support to the State in Solid Waste Management and efforts to make Goa plastic free. The State Government was complemented for improvement in the Child-Sex ratio (0-6 years) and it was pointed out that improving Child-Sex ratio has been put as one of the monitorable indicators in the 12th Five Year Plan.
The Chief Minister briefed the Commission on the performance of the State and pointed out that fiscal discipline has been encouraged while accelerating growth process. He said besides social services focus would continue on tourism and related activities. Efforts are on to promote diversification of agriculture so as to make a more economically viable activity. He said State is working to convert the State into a free of plastic and solid waste. He said the State was nearing 100 per cent registration under aadhar. He said the State was suffering because of ban on mining and requested a onetime grant of Rs 3000 crore to compensate those affected by closure of mining.
He said the new initiatives in this plan would include encouragement for local production of vegetables and fruits. Mid-day meal scheme for class IX and X students and underground cabling of major towns will be taken up during the year.
