Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said that special emphasis would be given for construction of roads in backward areas of the State to ensure light of development in such areas. He was presiding over the State Planning Board meeting to approve Draft Annual Plan for the year 2014-15, here today.
Virbhadra Singh said that Rs. 4400 crore Annual Plan has been proposed for the year 2014-15 which was 7.32 per cent more than 2013-14. He said that Rs. 1108 crore had been proposed for Scheduled Caste Sub Plan while Rs. 395 crore would be spent under Scheduled Tribe Sub Plan. Chief Minister said that Social Service Sector had always remained priority of the Government and Rs. 1085 crore had been proposed for this vital sector which was 38 per cent of the total Plan. Transport and Communication sectors have also been accorded priority and Rs. 817 crore had been proposed for the same which was 19 per cent of the total Plan. He said that Power Generation was one of the main priority sectors of the Government and provision of Rs. 648 had been made for this sector which was 15 per cent of the Plan. Rs. 545 crore, which is 12 per cent of the total plan would be made available for Horticulture and Agriculture Sectors which were the backbone of our economy. He said that the Growth Rate of the State was better than National average and Per Capita Income of the State was Rs. 82611 as compared to National Per Capita Income of Rs. 68947 at current prices. The State had also performed better than National indicators in Literacy and Health sectors. He said that our Literacy rate was 82.80 as compared to 73 of National level and the life expectancy in the State was 70 years as compared to 66.1 years of the National average.
Virbhadra Singh said that sex ratio of the State was 972 while Infant Mortality Rate was 38. He said that the ratio of Government employees of Himachal Pradesh was 3.95 of its population as compared to 1.54 of Uttrakhand, 1.30 of Jammu & Kashmir, 1.56 of Punjab and 1.29 of Haryana. Chief Minister said that the State Government had adopted election manifesto of the Congress Party as Government Policy Document and various programmes and schemes were being implemented for over all development of the State. The Government had increased the subsidy to 85 percent for setting up Pollyhouses for small and marginal farmers and good quality anti hail nets were also being provided on 80 per cent subsidy. Shri Virbhadra Singh said that Social Security Pension had been enhanced to Rs. 500 from Rs. 450 per month which was being provided to 2,92,921 old age, widows and physical challenged beneficiaries. The grant under Rajiv Gandhi Awas Yojna had been enhanced to Rs. 75000 from Rs. 48500 and free travel facility in HRTC buses was also being provided to the Government School students.
Deputy Chairman State Planning Board G.R. Musafir welcomed the Chief Minister and said that the proposed Annual Plan of the State was Rs. 300 crore more than the current year Annual Plan. He requested all the Members of Board for giving their valuable suggestions to improving the financial status of the State. He said that the suggestions received from MLAs on MLAs priority Schemes during the Annual Plan Meeting would be incorporated in the Budget. Members of the State Cabinet, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries and Non-Official Members gave their valuable suggestions.Acting Chief Secretary Shri P. Mitra proposed vote of thanks. Irrigation and Public Health Minister Smt. Vidya Stokes, Health Minister Shri Kaul Singh Thakur, Transport Minister Shri G.S. Bali, Agriculture Minisiter Shri Sujan Singh Pathania, Forest Minister Shri Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Industries Minister Shri Mukesh Agnihotri, Excise and Taxation Minister Shri Prakash Chaudhary, Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Col. (Dr.) Dhani Ram Shandil, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries Shri Neeraj Bharti, Shri Vinay Kumar, Shri Jagjivan Pal, Shri Nand Lal, Shri I.D. Lakhanpal and Shri Mansa Ram, Chairman State level Planning, Development and 20-Point Programme Shri Ram Lal Thakur, Chairman State Pollution Control Board Shri Kuldeep Singh Pathania, Chairman State Wakf Board Khawaja Khalil Ullah, Vice-Chairman HPSIDC Shri Atul Sharma, Vice Chancellors of the Universities, Non-official Members and Senior Officers of the State Government were present in the meeting.