Goa gets 21% hike in annual plan
Centre grants additional Rs 60 cr aid
HERALD BUREAU
NEW DELHI, APRIL 13
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Tuesday secured a 21 per cent increase in the State’s annual plan for the year 2011-11 from the Planning Commission in a meeting with its deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
Planning Commission officials said the Annual Plan size was agreed at Rs 2710 crore, which is Rs 470 crore more than the previous year’s plan of Rs 2240 crore. Additional Central Assistance (ACA) of Rs 60 crore, including Rs 35 crore for National Games, Rs 15 crore for sewerage in coastal belt and Rs 10 crore for art and culture including museum has been provided by the Planning Commission.
The chief minister told Ahluwalia that cruise services would soon start between Goa and Mumbai while his government would appoint more security guards on beaches for security of tourists. He said the State government also plans to strengthen the beach management system.
Kamat, who was accompanied by senior officials, also disclosed that he was pursuing the green field airport at Mopa while the present airport would also be upgraded,
The State also plans to set up Mineral Development Fund with a corpus of Rs 500 crore for building and maintenance of road infrastructure in mining areas, the chief minister disclosed, while assuring Ahluwalia to cover the entire population under the Swarnjayanti Arogya Bima — a health insurance cover.
Ahluwalia congratulated the chief minister for the state’s outstanding performance. He was impressed by Goa’s social sector
indicators being much better than the national average and that too despite the constraints of limited resources.
Ahluwalia appreciated the efforts to involve private sector in development of infrastructure and suggested that their participation should also be encouraged in modernisation of IT and transport sectors.
Asking the State government to further exploit the immense potential of tourism and allied sectors, Ahluwalia advised development of a good museum, besides working for a convention centre of international standard.
He laid increased emphasis on making development more inclusive as repeatedly stressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. He wanted the state to take care of agriculture and allied areas whose contribution in state domestic product is continuously coming down.
The Chief Minister assured him that his government’s thrust will be on development of infrastructure in PPP mode, improve education and health care and also lay greater emphasis on development of tourism related infrastructure. He said food processing industry would be given priority and Goa Venture Capital Fund would be created in association with leading financial institutions.
