PM’s opening remarks at the full Planning Commission meeting

Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, addressed the full Planning Commission meeting in New Delhi today. Here is the text of the prime minister's opening remarks at the meeting:

"The draft approach paper that is before us reflects the directions that had been given during the last meeting of the Planning Commission and the important inputs that have been received from the consultation process. I will only touch on some of the key points which we need to consider carefully.

"First, the Commission has examined the range of 9 to 9.5 per cent growth which we asked it to consider. It has proposed that we should set the Twelfth Plan target at 9 per cent. In fact the commission has pointed out that given the uncertainties in the global economy, and the challenges in the domestic economy even a 9 per cent target is feasible only if we can take some difficult decisions.

"The Commission has emphasised the importance of achieving 4 per cent growth in agriculture both because it provides broad based income benefits to the rural population and also because it is necessary to avoid inflationary pressure which could arise if high levels of growth are attempted without corresponding growth in domestic food production capabilities.

"The Approach Paper outlines the multiple interventions necessary to achieve our agricultural growth objective. I am happy to inform members that although the Approach Paper talks of achieving 3% agricultural growth in the Eleventh Plan, the Deputy Chairman has informed me that the latest estimates suggest that this will be 3.3 per cent.

"The paper draws attention to the major flagship programmes which were instrumental for promoting inclusiveness in the Eleventh Plan. We are spending Rs.1,87,000 crores on these programmes in 2011-12. These programmes will continue in the Twelfth Plan, but as the paper rightly emphasizes, we need to focus on issues of implementation and governance to improve their effectiveness.