Vidharbha aid: Manmohan promises, centre delays

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Vidarbha_aid_M…

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2007 04:30:20 AM]

MUMBAI: It was with much fanfare that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to Vidarbha in June 2006 to hear the woes of the widows of farmers who had committed suicides. On July 1, a moved Manmohan Singh rolled out a Rs 3,750-crore special relief package for six districts in Vidarbha, which reported maximum farmers’ suicides.
More than seven months later, the Centre has only released Rs 248 crore of its share of Rs 2,941 crore in the package, Maharashtra finance minister Jayant Patil said on Friday.
Most of the Centre’s share was earmarked to complete pending irrigation projects, with a stated objective of increasing agriculture productivity in the suicide belt. This was pointed out to the Planning Commission by the state government on Wednesday in New Delhi.
Farm suicides, agrarian distress and low agriculture productivity were emphasised by the state as priority concerns at the meeting. The state told the planners that only 17.8% of the net sown area in Maharashtra has access to irrigation as against the national average of 38%.
Even inter-regional disparity in areas under irrigation had come up for discussion at the meeting. For instance, in Vidarbha, only 7% of land is irrigated, while more than 63% of the net sown area in Western Maharashtra has access to irrigation. Mr Patil said the state has 1,236 irrigation projects pending completion, which require a whopping Rs 41,300 crore for completion.
Technical bottlenecks in the guidelines of the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) are said to be the chief reason for funds under the Prime Minister’s package getting locked. Now, the state has sought changes in the guidelines to streamline funds transfer, Mr Patil said.
Meanwhile, Mr Patil said, the state’s finances were in good shape and the Planning Commission has acknowledged it. Consolidated state debt has risen to 1.37 lakh crore, which the state is repaying at 9.54% interest.
“Debt repayment is manageable because our revenues are also growing. In the Rs 20,200 crore plan approved by the Planning Commission, Rs 16,000 crore are going to be raised by the state through its own resources and the rest would come from the Centre,” Mr Patil said.
He, however, admitted that the state had spent only 53% of the current plan till December, but exuded confidence that the expenditure targets would be met by March 31, 2007. BJP leader Eknath Khadse had criticised the state government for its failure to spend as per the plan.