The Hindu Business Line : NCMP schemes to cost additional Rs 47,000 cr

THE United Progressive Alliance Government will take a call on Tuesday on how much of the promises made in the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) can be achieved on an annual basis, given the current resources position.

The Planning Commission, which is fleshing out the NCMP schemes, has projected a minimum additional expenditure of Rs 47,000 crore every year, if the major initiatives of the NCMP are taken up.

Putting out its estimates as part of the mid-term review of the 10th Five Year Plan, the Commission says the expansion of the food-for-work programme into a full-fledged Employment Guarantee Scheme will involve significant additional resources.

Although precise estimates can be made on the basis of the experience gained from the food-for-work programme currently on in 150 districts of the country, the Commission's calculations are that an additional requirement of Rs 20,000 crore a year would probably be needed for full coverage.

The Budget this year has provided for Rs 5,400 crore for the cash component of the programme and 50 lakh tonnes of foodgrain, which in monetary terms means a total outgo of Rs 11,000 crore.

On agriculture, another priority area of the NCMP, the Commission's view is that there has been inadequate investment in irrigation and water conservation in dryland farming, and a serious effort in this area would require an additional expenditure of at least Rs 7,000 crore a year.

On infrastructure development, while private sector involvement has been factored in, the Commission feels this cannot be a complete substitute for public spending. Public sector involvement will be either directly in projects where the private sector would not be forthcoming or in the form of a capital subsidy (viability gap funding) for the private sector on a build, operate, transfer basis.

If the requirements of rural roads, rural electrification, rural housing, urban infrastructure and viability gap funding for the railways and the highways are added up, it would call for additional resources of at least Rs 20,000 crore annually, the Commission says.

The Commission also points to the need to step up public expenditure on health from 0.9 per cent of the gross domestic product to 2 per cent. Even if this were to be done by the end of the 11th Plan, it calls for significant increases annually in the years ahead.

The success of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan will lead to a massive increase in public expenditure on secondary school infrastructure, the Commission says.

The suggestions for raising a part of the required resources include improved tax collection, reduction in untargeted subsidies and higher charges for services provided by the Government.

It is now for the full Planning Commission, headed by the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to take a look at the resources position at its scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

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