West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today gave the Planning Commission outline of the state government’s reform measures in sectors ranging from education, power to development of Sunderbans by the state government. Bhattacharjee was discussing the plans to firm up the state’s annual plan for 2006-07.The talks, between the Commission led by the deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bhattacharjee and finance minister Asim Dasgupta, centred around the annual plan size, which the Commission agreed to increase by 24 per cent over last year’s allocation.The annual plan for 2006-07 which now stands at Rs 8024.36 crore, also includes an additional Central assistance of Rs 100 crore. Ninety per cent of the funds would be earmarked for energy (and power), transport, rural development, special area development programme, irrigation and flood control, sources said. The Chief Minister gave a detailed account of the various measures being taken by the state government. The government, he said, was willing to rope in multilateral agencies and consultants for advice and get FDI for power generation.As part of the focus on secondary education and universalisation of elementary education, the state plans to engage the British Council to improve the spread of English language in the state. The Council can help local teachers teach English to students.About power, the Commission felt the state needs 100 per cent metering and electrification of households. The CM said PricewaterhouseCoopers would restructure the state electricity board. The government was also pursuing proposals, including one from South Africa, over power generation. Regarding development of Sunderbans, sources said the Planning Commission had agreed to set up an expert group under the chairmanship of VL Chopra (Member Planning Commission) to evolve strategy for the development of Sunderbans. The expert group will go into coastal management, forest and wildlife, improving livelihood opportunities for residents and encouraging eco-tourism. The state government was open to suggestions from multilateral agencies for development of the Sunderbans area.
