The 15th Finance Commission on Friday expressed concern over the issues of status of Nuh as most backward district, losses of State-run power utilities, shortage of water and increase in pollution levels due to stubble burning in Haryana.
The officiating chairman of 15th Finance Commission, Ashok lahiri alongwith other members held a series of meetings with Chief Minister Manohar lal, Finance Minister Capt. Abhimanyu and several senior officers of the State Government here to assess the state of finances in Haryana.
After the meeting, lahiri while addressing the mediapersons said that several suggestions have been given to prepare district specific schemes keeping in view the different requirements of the districts in Haryana.
Referring to the differences in districts, he said that Gurugram district has highest per capita income in the country, whereas the per capita income in Nuh district is very low. There is a need to develop Nuh and bring it into the mainstream districts, he said.
Recently, Nuh (earlier Mewat) was ranked the most backward district in the country in the Niti Aayog's recent list of 101 backward districts. The Aayog had released the baseline ranking based on 49 indicators across five sectors that includes health and nutrition (30% weightage), education (30%), agriculture and water resources (20%), financial inclusion and skill development (10%), and basic infrastructure (10%) in districts.
lahiri also emphasised that a lot has to be done to further improve the sex ratio in Haryana. The civilised society has to coordinate with the efforts of the Government to completely remove imbalance in the sex ratio, said he.
Appreciated the efforts taken by the government for improvement in sex ration, he said that during the last three years, there has been improvement in sex ratio in Haryana and now there are 914 girls per thousand boys in the state.
The state had the lowest child sex ratio of 834 compared to the national average of 919 (according to census of India 2011).
On the issue of shortage of water in Haryana, lahiri said that the availability of water in the state is much less than its demand. Some of the areas have been declared dark zones. Hence, there is a need of strengthen the water management system, he added.
The State Government has submitted suggestions to implement micro irrigation system at a large scale for judicious use of water and the Finance Commission would definitely consider this suggestion, said he.
lahiri also said that there is a need to create more job opportunities and the Commission would consider peri-urban farming as suggested by Haryana Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister OP Dhankar.
lahiri also said that Haryana is the first state in the country to prepare vision document of sustainable goals with UNDP. The State Government is completely focused on achieving its targets, he added.
He said that the country is proud of the achievements of Haryana, especially in bringing improvement in fiscal management.
lahiri said that a memorandum of suggestions have been submitted by the Haryana Government which would be examined by the Commission. We will submit our report in September 2019
SOlAR BASED TUBEWEll SCHEME
Haryana Finance Minister, Capt. Abhimanyu on Friday said that the State Government is mulling to implement a solar based tubewell scheme in the state.
The scheme aims to benefit the farmers as they would be able to generate electricity and earn income, said Capt. Abhimanyu while talking to the mediapersons after the meeting with 15th Finance Commission here. Elaborating, the Minister said that under this scheme, six lakh tubewells in the state would be linked with solar energy.
The farmers would be able to utilize the solar energy as per the requirement and also sell the surplus power available with them. This would help them earn income, he added.
The Minister said that the aim of the scheme is to make the farmer producer besides the consumer. The power subsidy of Rs7000 crore to be given under this scheme would also be borne by the State Government. This scheme would be finalized after the Chief Minister returns from his scheduled foreign visits by May 20, he added.
On being asked about the problem of pollution in the National Capital Region (NCR) area, Capt. Abhimanyu said that this problem is not only due to the burning of agriculture residue by the farmers instead there are several other reasons.
He said that though burning of crop residue in the fields is not appropriate, it is a fact that farmers carry out this activity for only one month.
SUGGESTIONS SUBMITTED ON SUGGESTIONS FROM PEOPlE
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar lal on Friday said that the State Government has submitted suggestions to 15th Finance Commissionon the basis of the suggestions received from the people of the State.
“I am sure that the Commission will favourably consider these suggestions and the state will get maximum funds from the Commission. The state will ensure optimum utilisation of these funds for the benefit of the people,” said the Chief Minister while addressing the mediapersons after his meeting with the 15th Finance Commission here.
In reply to a question on law and order situation in the state, the Chief Minister said that everybody is aware about law and order situation prevalent in the state in the year 2011, 2012 and 2013.
At present, law and order situation is much better as immediate action is taken on receiving a complaint of any crime committed in the state, whereas during those times, the cases remained closed for weeks without any action, he added.
In reply to another question, the Chief Minister said that the farmers’ income would be doubled by the year 2022 as per the announcement of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the State Government has submitted suggestions to the 15th Finance Commission in this regard.