Question : HIGHER GROWTH RATE

he steps taken/ proposed to be taken for achieving higher growth rate of the economy covering the next decade?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR PLANNING, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. ASHWANI KUMAR)

India has followed the model of development planning in terms of Five Year Plans. The Five Year Plans are further split into Annual Plans so as to fine tune the short run policy measures and the Mid-Term Appraisal highlights the progress made together with the suggestions about the corrective steps needed. The Eleventh Five Year Plan took cognizance of the multi-dimensional aspects of development and adopted inclusive growth as the main objective of development planning. Acknowledging the strengths of the Indian economy as well the internal/external constraints, the Approach Paper to the Twelfth Five Year Plan aims to achieve faster, sustainable and more inclusive growth targeting an average annual growth rate of 9 percent. The Approach Paper highlights various strategies and steps needed to achieve the targeted growth rates in different sectors such as it recognizes the need for higher levels of investments in agriculture both by the public and private sector which can yield better results if the reforms are undertaken to streamline the incentive structures for the farmers and the institutional frameworks in which agriculture and related activities take place. Seeds and irrigation have been identified as the priority areas for raising the productivity on the supply side. On the demand side, the need to remove most of the controls that have denied a unified and seamless all India market for most agriculture products have been identified as key priority areas in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. In the manufacturing sector issues like improving in the global competitiveness, development of physical infrastructure, role of small and medium enterprises, skilled workforce etc. have been identified as the priority areas. It focuses on strengthening the social sectors such as education and health and environmental concerns for sustainable economic growth and contains a comprehensive vision for inclusive economic growth in the country in the years ahead. The Approach Paper to the 12th Plan as approved by the National Development Council (NDC) is available on the website of the Planning Commission i.e. planningcommission.nic.in.