People's Democracy

TRIPURA’S Planning Board has made a strong plea to the centre to eliminate the obstacles to the state’s economic development, which have been created by the centre itself. The plea was made after a vital meeting of the board on June 5 at the Civil Secretariat to discuss in detail the state’s estimated plan outlay for the 10th five-year plan period and related matters. Participating in its deliberations, members of the board including chief minister Manik Sarkar, who is the board’s ex-officio chairman, made an indepth review of both the concrete achievements and the formidable problems in the implementation of the plans.

In a recent discussion the chief minister held with the Planning Commission’s deputy chairman K K Pant regarding finalisation of the state’s annual plan allocation, the latter had assured the chief minister that discussion on the state’s 10th five-year plan would be held later on. But subsequently, without any such prior discussion, the Planning Commission informed the state government that allocation for the 10th five-year plan had already been finalised. The June 5 meeting of the Tripura Planning Board sharply reacted to this unilateral and arbitrary decision of the centre. The board demanded that the Planning Commission finalise the allocation for the 10th five-year plan only after discussing with the state government the estimated outlay of Rs 6908.25 core approved by the board for the 10th plan period.

The board also discussed in detail the resolution adopted by the international seminar held at Agartala on May 31, under the auspices of the state government, on the issue of Indo-Bangladesh cooperation in trade and transport. The board demanded that the centre immediately implement the seminar’s recommendations for abolishing the obstacles of export-import duty and developing the infrastructure for border trade. This is essential for furthering the industrial development in Tripura by capitalising on the natural resources and geographical advantages, to forge the sub-regional cooperation between Tripura and Bangladesh in trade and transit.

The board noted with concern that most of the cooperative societies in Tripura are languishing due to the centre’s apathy. Also, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) and the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) are refusing to ensure the natural gas supply for any prospective entrepreneur to set up the proposed fertiliser factory in Tripura. The board demanded that the centre take necessary steps so that cooperative societies may play a vital role in marketing Tripura’s products and so that natural gas supply from the state’s gas fields is ensured for the state’s economic development. Besides, the board demanded that Agartala be linked to the proposed trans-Asian highway connecting India with Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh, so as to make Agartala a key commercial point in the region.

In the board meeting, the chief minister pointed out that the Left Front government has been fully utilising the allocations to implement the plans on priority basis. Moreover, it has displayed financial discipline here and the state’s seven-year growth rate of 7.25 per cent is above the national average of 6.68 per cent. Yet the centre is unduly depriving the state of allocations. The nationalised banks too are not cooperating in regard to implementation of self-employment schemes. The board’s vice chairman, Tapan Chakraborty, maintained that since the formation of the board, realistic and rightly oriented planning for the people is being done, with an overwhelming participation of the people of Tripura.