Sikkim annual plan fixed at Rs. 1,500 crore

MONTEK SINGH COMMENDS STATE GOVT’S DEVELOPMENTAL EFFORTS
GANGTOK, 13 April: Sikkim’s annual plan for the year 2012-13 was fixed at Rs. 1,500 crore today, informs a press communiqué received from the Principal Resident Commissioner, Sikkim House, New Delhi. The plan size was finalised at a meeting between Chief Minister Pawan Chamling and Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, held at Yojana Bhawan. The Plan size grows up to Rs. 1,877 crore with the addition of Rs. 377 crore which the Planning Commission informed today it would be releasing for Sikkim from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund [against the total announcement of Rs. 1,000 crore] to assist earthquake restoration works here. The Chief Minister informed the meeting that the entire Rs. 1,000 crore package announced by the Prime Minister for undertaking various earthquake repair activities will be utilised in the state in next two years .
The Chief Minister, the press release from Delhi informs, highlighted that the plan size [not including the earthquake relief funds] is Rs. 100 crore higher than the current plan size.
Meanwhile, an update from the Press Information Bureau informs that in his comments on the performance of the State, the Deputy Chairman appreciated the “development efforts” and pointed that the human development indicators of Sikkim were among the best in the country. He said the growth in agriculture during eleventh plan was better than the national average and also made positive mention of the priority being given to organic farming, horticulture and floriculture.
As per Planning Commission data, Sikkim has achieved a growth rate of 8.95% during the 11th plan which is higher than national average.
On plan performance, it was pointed that the GSDP at Constant Prices rose from Rs. 1,73,932 in 2004-05 to Rs. 3,34,311 in 2009-10 and was likely to increase to Rs. 3,64,218 in 2010-11 showing an annual growth of 8.95 percent. Likewise the Per Capita GSDP at constant prices rose from Rs. 30,730 in 2004-05 to Rs. 55,441 in 2009-10 and likely to increase to the level of Rs. 59,806 in 2010-11 showing an annual growth of 7.87 percent.
Mr. Ahluwalia, during the plan finalisation deliberations, also commented that tourism being the largest service sector in Sikkim, had high growth potential and has attained the top priority sector due to its vast spinoff effects contributing to the overall development through sustained fiscal receipts and employment generation.
“Sikkim endowed with unparalleled natural beauty, clean environment and picturesque location is one of the most potential State for tourism sector to flourish. In Sikkim, tourism has attained a consistent growth. The proactive tourism vision of the State Government, insurgency free environment and friendly people has been one of the major factors in upsurge of tourism in the state,” the PIB release quotes the Deputy Chairman as commenting.
Mr. Ahluwalia, also recognised that the general trends in rural development over the last two decades indicated that human development indicators like literacy, life expectancy, infant mortality, access to health, sanitation and rural infrastructure like roads, bridges, electricity, water, toilets, houses, school, hospitals, telecommunication etc. has been increasingly universalized. However, there was a declining trend in terms of relative contribution of agricultural sector to the economy and also as an employer, he pointed out.
Briefing the Commission, the Chief Minister is reported to have detailed that over the past two decades, the State has adopted the path of sustainable development, working in pursuit of developing the rural areas at par with the towns by providing all basic and modern amenities and sustainable employment opportunities in rural areas. The aim, he said, was to develop Sikkim as an “eco-city State”.
He also highlighted that the September 2011 earthquake had caused extensive damage to the infrastructure and setback the development process here. The developmental programmes, he stressed, can only be successful with liberal financial assistance from the Government of India in the 12th Five Year Plan and particularly in the Annual Plan 2012-13.
On the various schemes launched in recent years by the State, the CM highlighted the CM’s Free Scholarship programme under which the state was offering full scholarship to Sikkim students enrolled in the top-20 international universities of the world. On similar lines, Sikkim has launched a unique scheme called the Chief Minister’s Merit Scholarship Scheme under which students enrolled in government schools in rural Sikkim, upon selection on merit, were being funded to study at prestigious public and convent schools like Scindia School, Springdales School [Dehradun] and Pinegrove School [HP] etc. A budget of around Rs. 7 crore has been provided in current financial year and target has been fixed to sponsor 1,000 Sikkim students to reputed schools in the country by the year.
Detailing the various initiatives undertaken by the State Government like the CATCH programme and the Mission Kutcha House Free Sikkim, the CM briefed the Commission that State was confident of generating an annual revenue of Rs. 1,500 crore from the hydel sector in three years time. Tourism too was receiving special focus in the State and showing good results with 10 lakh tourists having visited Sikkim in 2011, having doubled from the 4.9 lakh visitors recorded in 2006. The target now is to attract 5 million tourist by the year 2015, the CM said, stressing that this would happen with better planning , aggressive publicity and world class tourism infrastructure.