An official release issued here today by state Additional Chief Secretary Lalthara said the Annual Plan outlay was finalized during the meeting held yesterday at New Delhi between the Government of Nagaland, led by Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, and the Planning Commission, led by its Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
“However, if the Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP) component is excluded from the plan outlay, the actual growth rate is 31 per cent over the current year's outlay. APDP was a component of the State Plan till the current year but is now being taken out of the State Plan and would be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) from next year,” the statement added.
The APDP component of the Annual Plan 2008-2009 is Rs 60 crore, which will not be taken out of the State Plan and implemented as CSS.
In the meeting with the Planning Commission, Rio made a power point presentation highlighting the progress and achievements made by the State Government during the current year and previous year.
He also made a strong plea for a Special Plan Assistance (SPA) to the tune of Rs 600 crore to take care of the Revision of Pay (RoP) requirements for the State Government employees for 2009-2010.
He further informed the Commission that during next year the state’s major focus would be on the implementation of Central Schemes, including Swaranjayanti Gram Swrozagar Yojana, Indira Awas Yojana, Grant-in-aid to Village Development Boards (VDB), Micro-Financing through VDBs, Backward Region Grant Fund (BRGF).
He pointed out that 640 lakh mandays of employment would be generated under NREGS. Rio told the Commission that the Northeastern States in general and Nagaland in particular had started feeling the effect of downturn and pointed out that government’s initiatives to stimulate economy were not reaching them.
In the meeting, the chief minister was accompanied by State Planning Minister T R Zeliang, Deputy Chairman of State Planning Board Neiba Kronu, Chief Secretary Lalhuma, Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Development Commissioner, Finance Commissioner, Commissioner and Secretary to the Chief Minister and other senior officials, the release said.