Promise surpasses Left goal

New Delhi, June 22: Chief minister Mamata Banerjee today won a promise from the Planning Commission to fix Bengal’s annual plan size for this year at Rs 22,214 crore, over 14 per cent more than what the Left Front government had sought before being voted out.

The amount promised by the tight-fisted commission for this year is also Rs 4,229 crore more than the plan size sanctioned for the state last year.

“I am grateful to the Planning Commission for the generous allocation… this will help in the industrial and social development of my state… since a new 5-year plan starts next year, I hope we will be able to get our proper share in the coming years,” Mamata said after emerging from a meeting with plan panel deputy chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

The erstwhile Left government was negotiating for an annual plan size of Rs 19,425 crore — an increase of 8 per cent over that the year before.

“This is a practical victory for her (Mamata)… the Congress, which leads the central government, is also trying to send a clear message that it wants to consolidate the alliance with Trinamul,” said Pradip Kumar Dutta, the head of the political science department, University of Delhi.

Mamata had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday to lobby for the higher allocation. Mukherjee is believed to have given her tips on how to present her case to garner more funds and separately spoken to Ahluwalia.

“The main allocation will be in the twelfth five-year plan,” said Ahluwalia.

Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra had made a presentation for four-year central allocation for special schemes to develop north Bengal, Maoist-hit tribal districts and the Sunderbans. But the plan panel asked the state to return with a five-year plan that could be dovetailed into the plan-making exercise.

Ahluwalia said the Darjeeling hills could get a special package. All other projects will be lumped together in the plan.

The nitty-gritty of the annual plan — how much the state will raise, how much the Centre will give over and above the normal assistance that is decided by a fixed formula — will be announced later.

However, sources said most of the components had already been decided. The additional central assistance this year could be “limited” but the exact figure was not bandied as this could lead to heartburn among other states.

“Bengal could expect a bigger largesse from next year onwards,” a plan panel adviser said.

This year’s plan calls for allocating 49.5 per cent or nearly half of the plan to the social sector, including over 9 per cent for education and nearly 5 per cent for medical and public health.

The single largest chunk (around 16 per cent or Rs 3,450 crore) is expected to be allocated for urban development. Irrigation and flood control is the second biggest ticket at Rs 2,603 crore or around 12 per cent of the plan, followed by rural development at over Rs 1,900 crore.

“Special areas”, which includes the Darjeeling hills and tribal areas, will be given nearly Rs 1,500 crore.

A presentation by Mitra to the plan panel said the state government would be setting up a separate department “exclusively looking after the interests of the six north Bengal districts … (with) offices both at Calcutta and Siliguri. A branch office of the chief minister’s secretariat will function from Siliguri soon.”

The presentation said four new airports would be set up at Haldia, Burdwan, Malda and Cooch Behar and the Bagdogra airport upgraded into an international airport