The Hindu Business Line : Kerala Govt opposes 11th Plan approach

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec. 21 The Kerala Government has expressed strong dissent over the approach and outlook of the Eleventh Plan at the National Development Council meeting in Delhi.

In his address to the meeting, the Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan, said that the approach of the Plan with emphasis on liberalisation would aggravate the imbalance prevailing in society, according to an official release here on Friday.

He said that the roadmap of the Plan contained proposals that would keep the crisis in the agricultural sector continuing and increase the rate of unemployment in the country.

The differences of opinion raised by Kerala earlier to the approach paper to the Eleventh Plan still persisted, he added.

The Chief Minister noted that even while there were several proposals aimed at improving the agricultural growth, the Plan document did no mention any measures to ensure that the farmers got fair prices for their produce.

The document talked merely about exploring ways to bring in stability of prices and it was clear that such an approach would result in only the large-scale farmers reaping the benefits of the growth visualised in the agricultural sector.

Farmers’ suicide

Mr Achuthanandan pointed out that going by the experience of Kerala, the crisis being faced by the farmers could be solved only through ensuring fair prices and extending debt relief to them.

Through such measures, the Government could arrest the phenomenon of farmers’ suicide in the State.

Unemployment

He also said that there were no proposals to solve the problem of rising unemployment rate in the country.

The Chief Minister put forward several suggestions at the meeting, which included adopting of steps to control the money flow, levying of higher taxes from the rich and strengthening of the domestic market by ensuring good prices to agricultural produce.