145;Priority146; funds to be hiked for 11th plan

The government is set to approve nearly 20 per cent hike in the gross budgetary support for 8220;priority sector8221; programmes to be taken up during the Eleventh Plan.

The government is set to approve nearly 20 per cent hike in the gross budgetary support for 8220;priority sector8221; programmes to be taken up during the Eleventh Plan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to hold a meeting of the full Planning Commission on Monday where the government is to give its nod to a massive increase in allocation for its prirority sector programmes flagship taking the fund allocation for these programmes from 56 per cent during the Tenth Plan to above 73 per cent during the Eleventh Plan period that begins from 2007.

The rise would automatically affect the allocation for non-priority sectors, cutting it down from around 43 per cent during the Tenth Plan to close to 26 per cent during the Eleventh Plan. This steep rise in fund allocation can be seen in the light of the upcoming 2009 general elections. In that regard, education sector is expected to get the highest increase in allocation from 7.79 per cent to 18.23 per cent during the Eleventh Plan.

In all other priority sectors, including agriculture, health, rural development, the increase is around 3 per cent, with physical infrastructure which includes the highway development programmes coming down from around 10 per cent to 8.6 per cent. The decrease in funds for physical infrastructure is because these schemes are to be taken up through the public private partnership route.

The UPA government8217;s drive for getting their flagship programmes implemented is also evident from a significant increase being given to centrally sponsored schemes CSS taking it from 25 per cent to 36 per cent 8212; an increase of 11 per cent.

Ideally, states would like this money to be given under the allocation for state plans.

What is interesting to note is that the increase in allocation that is currently being suggested could be more as these allocations have not taken into account some of the new schemes such as the social security schemes for the unorganised sector.