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SUMMARY RECORD OF DISCUSSIONS OF THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (NDC) MEETINGS Five Decades of Nation Building (Fifty NDC Meetings) Vol - IV (36th to 44th Meetings) GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PLANNING COMMISSION Please Note: Every effort has been made to ensure that the contents of this publication, which has been compiled for making available at one place the Record of Discussions of fifty Meetings of the National Development Council, are as accurate as possible. However, considering that this voluminous publication has been brought out from the Records, some of which are very old, users are requested to refer to the original text in case of any doubt/dispute. CONTENTS 36th Meeting of NDC ...................................................................................................... 1 37th Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................... 31 38th Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................... 79 39th Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................. 145 40th Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................. 171 41st Meeting of NDC................................................................................................... 213 42nd Meeting of NDC ................................................................................................. 267 43rd Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................. 301 44th Meeting of NDC .................................................................................................. 361 THIRTY-SIXTH MEETING OF THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL MARCH 14, 1982 SUMMARY RECORD GOVERNMENT OF INDIA PLANNING COMMISSION Thirty Sixth NDC Meeting SUMMARY RECORD OF THE DISCUSSIONS AT THE THIRTY SIXTH MEETING OF THE NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL HELD ON MARCH 14, 1982 AGENDA & SUMMARY RECORD Welcoming the Members to the meeting of the National Development Council, Shri S. B. Chavan, Minister of Planning expressed satisfaction at the over all progress made in the first two years of the Sixth Five Year Plan. Production of foodgrains, which had declined sharply in 1979-80, rose to 130 million tonnes in 1980-81 and was expected to reach 134 million tonnes in 1981-82. Industrial production was expected to show an increase of more than 8 per cent in 1981- 82 as against 4 per cent in the preceding year. Capacity utilisation in major industries had gone up and the infrastructure showed a sustained improvement. There was a sharp decline in the rate of inflation in terms of wholesale prices. National income had increased by 7.5 per cent in 1980-81 and was likely to go up further by 4.5 per cent in 1981-82. Thus, the average growth rate for the first two years of the Sixth Plan was about 6 per cent which was higher than the annual growth rate of 5.2 per cent envisaged in the Sixth Plan. The Planning Minister stated that full advantage should be taken of the highly encouraging economic climate that had been created. One important measure in this direction was the declaration of 1982 as the Year of Productivity. Its objective was to give a push to production all along the line and ensure more efficient and optimum utilisation of the available material and human resources to secure the best results. Efforts towards higher production and productivity had to be made at all levels and on a nation-wide scale. The available opportunities had to be critically evaluated, policy and operational constraints identified in order to remove them and time-bound programmes chalked out to achieve higher levels of production. Action at the centre was already under way. At State level also, appropriate productivity targets needed to be fixed for different sectors and suitable arrangements made to closely monitor the performance. Another important development was the revision of the 20-Point Programme. The revised 20- Point Programme announced by the Prime Minister focussed attention on some of the important social and economic Programmes included in the Sixth Plan and sought to impart greater dynasism to these programmes. While the thrust continued to be on ameliorating the living conditions of the less-privileged sections of the population, the programme as a whole aimed at all round improvement in productivity. It constituted the core of the Sixth Plan. Union Ministers and Chief Ministers of States had already been requested by the Prime Minister to provide personal direction and guidance to ensure that the objectives of the programme were achieved and adequate arrangements made for monitoring its progress. For the successful implementation of the revised 20-Point Programme as well as the Sixth Plan, it would be necessary both for the Central and the State Governments to mobilise financial resources in line with the contemplated investments. In view of significant cost escalations and erosion in base line resources since 1979-80, additional resource mobilisation in nominal terms of the same order as indicated in the Sixth Plan document would not be sufficient. Larger efforts at additional resource mobilisation would have to be made both by the Centre and the States. Apart from curbs on non-development expenditure, it would be necessary to secure higher generation of internal resources by public enterprises, both at the Centre as well as in the States. One of the 1 Summary Record of Discussions of the NDC Meetings important reasons for the unsatisfactory state of finances in several States in the first two years of the Plan was the poor performance of State Electricity Boards, Road Transport Corporations and losses on irrigation works. It was, therefore, urgently necessary to take further measures for improving the functioning of public enterprises and their financial position. To sustain high growth-rate under conditions of relatively stable prices, deficit financing would have to be kept within safe limits. It would be necessary to ensure that the Plan outlays were fully supported by resources and recourse to overdrafts from the Reserve Bank was avoided. The tendency to use ways and means advances, from the Reserve Bank for financing state plans had also to be avoided. The poor implementation of the power programme constituted probably the weakest element of the Plan. Delays in supply of equipment and management deficiencies in State Electricity Boards, leading to inordinate delays in commissioning of new units, had led to a serious shortfall in the installation of new capacity in 1980-81 and 1981-82. Immediate steps needed to be taken to strengthen the organisational structure of State Electricity Boards and clothe them with adequate powers to enable them to function as autonomous bodies not only in letter but in spirit also. Attention had to be given to bringing about higher capacity utilisation in thermal plants, reducing transmission and distribution losses and having a proper hydro-thermal mix. To obtain maximum results from investments, it was necessary to concentrate on early completion of on-going projects, particularly those which were in advanced stages of execution. New Starts had to be on a selective basis. In the light of the trend of food production upto 1981-82, much more vigorous efforts were needed to achieve the target of 149-154 million tonnes fixed for 1984-85. At the same time, every effort had to be made to maximise procurement during the rabi season in order to maintain food stocks at a reasonable level. Particular attention had to be given to the implementation of anti-poverty programmes such as the Integrated Rural Development Programme, National Rural Employment Programme and the Minimum Needs Programme. A special drive was necessary for taking over surplus land and distribution of such land on priority basis. A lot more needed to be done for promoting the family welfare programme and securing people’s willing cooperation and active involvement in achieving the objectives of this programme. Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister welcomed the Chief Ministers, other members and special invitee to the National Development Council Meeting. Though many of the points to be highlighted had already been covered by the Minister of Planning, yet she wanted to emphasise some of those in order to focus attention on them. In the first two years of the Sixth Plan, an average growth rate of 6 per cent had been achieved, which was higher than the Plan target of annual growth of 5.2 per cent. Substantial progress had been recorded in sectors like power, railways, coal, petroleum, steel, etc. There was reasonable growth in agricultural production as well as in industrial production. But, in spite of these welcome improvements, continuous and vigorous efforts were still needed since the economy was highly vulnerable to fluctuations of weather and external shocks such as high import prices of sensitive commodities. In view of the declaration of 1982 as the ‘year of Productivity’ Central Ministries had already initiated action to identify policy and operational constraints which affected productivity, and to fix targets for higher levels of production and productivity during 1982. The State Governments also had to take similar action, fix appropriate targets and evolve proper systems for performance monitoring. Decision making must be expedited and there should be greater delegation of financial