Pushing for reforms, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has asked chief ministers to evolve mechanisms to levy charges for water and power so that their fiscal health is intact.Not levying user charges and supply of free power in states have pushed several state electricity boards into the red, eroding the finances of the states, the PM wrote to the CMs on the eve of the two-day meeting of the National Development Council.Singh also wanted the states to suggest steps for implementation of the ambitious Rs 1,74,000-crore Bharat Nirman programme. Singh wrote that agriculture, health, education, employment, infrastructure development and state finances need ‘‘immediate importance and focussed attention.’’He urged the states to focus on some of the critical issues thrown up by the Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) of the Tenth plan, which he said, were relevant for the achievement of key social and economic objectives.The NDC has been convened to approve the MTA, already cleared by the Cabinet and the Planning Commission. The MTA had scaled down the growth target to 7 per cent for the remaining period of the Tenth plan that ends in March 2007.Singh said that MTA would also serve as a guide to the Planning Commission as it works on the approach to the 11th plan, which should be presented before the NDC later in the year. The PM also sought states’ response on roping in private players in areas like secondary education and infrastructure.
