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Patna,(BiharTimes): The Annual Plan for 2012-13 for Bihar was finalized at a meeting between Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, in New Delhi on Wednesday. The plan size has been agreed at Rs. 28,000 crore.
Ahluwalia said the Commission was looking to get sense of priorities of the States so that these could be covered in the 12th Plan. He said need for flexibility in execution of centrally-sponsored programmes is broadly acceptable to the Commission and would be supported wherever
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He said Bihar is fast catching up with better developed States and pointed out that most of the under-developed States were progressing well.
Ahluwalia assured the State Government that the on-going special assistance package for the State would continue in the 12th Plan and that the Commission would be shortly seeking central Government’s approval for the same.
Attention was drawn to the need for improving education standard and it was pointed out that in the next plan focus would be on quality and not so on quantity expansion. The State was advised to
focus on teachers’ training to improve quality.
Nitish briefed the Commission on the achievements of the State and future strategy.
He assured the Commission that the State administration was keen to further empower the Panchayati Raj Institutions but further delegation of powers would be linked to strengthening of the local bodies. He requested the Commission to reconsider its recommendation on State’s request for special category status and said that the criteria for granting this status needs to reviewed fresh.
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