Setting a target of 9 to 9.5 per cent annual growth in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called for a greater focus on water, health, education and infrastructure and redesigning of government programmes for better delivery.“The Planning Commission should focus on policy and governance reforms while working towards a growth target of 9 to 9.5 per cent for the 12th Plan,” Manmohan Singh said at the full meeting of the Planning Commission called to discuss the on-going 11th Five-Year Plan and thrash out the issues to Approach Document for the 12th Plan here on Thursday.“The 12th Plan objective must be faster, more inclusive and also sustainable growth…We need to identify the critical areas where existing policies and programmes are not delivering results, and should, therefore, be strengthened or even restructured,” Singh said.A series of regional consultations with the states are planned next month in the run-up to the meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) in July, the highest policy making body comprising Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers on preparation of a draft approach to the 12th Plan.He said the economy is expected to grow an average 8.2 per cent in the current five-year period, which ends this fiscal (2011-12).“This is short of the 9 per cent target, but it is a commendable achievement for a plan period which saw a severe drought as well as a global economic slowdown.” “To achieve the double digit growth dream, the government needs to push through reforms addressing structural constraints to growth on infrastructure, skill development, labour reforms and fiscal prudence,” he said.The Prime Minister also asked the Planning Commission to examine challenges related to energy, water and urbanisation.
http://expressbuzz.com