Akshay Azad
Jammu, Sept 25: Pressing financial constraints have impelled state government to put on the back burner, the hyped creation of State planning board (SPB) on the pattern of Planning Commission of India atleast for the time being.
Sources informed Early Times that for the last around nine months the whereabouts of file pertaining to creation of Planning Board have not been known. "Either concerned minister or higher officials of Planning and Development department have shelved the file", sources said, adding that though maximum formalities for the creation of board have been completed, there was no further progress on the proposal.
An official pleading anonymity said that the state government has already been facing financial crunch due to no increase in Annual plan 2013-14 by PCI. "The proposed Planning Board will increase burden on the cash starved state government. The creation of around 53 posts of various categories will increase financial burden by around 1 Crore per month over state government", sources said.
They further maintained that the proposal for creation of SPB was envisaged by state government due to liberal funding by Union government in the last few financial years, but for current financial year the funding has been reduced, dashing to ground the plan of state government. "Already PCI has put riders on various types of funding, besides the Annual plan was also not enhanced as proposed by state government", sources said, adding that the state government has no funds to spare for paying salaries of employees of the proposed Planning Board. "If government has no extra funds, what the proposed Planning Board will do", an official questioned, adding that weak financial resource position of state has compelled state government to shelf the proposal and it would only materialize, if there was liberal funding from Union government or improvement in financial resource position of state.
Pertinently, after getting financial concurrence from the state Finance department around a year back, the state Planning Department had finalized a memo of 53 posts for the proposed Planning Board.
Other posts to be created for the Board are one private secretary, eight statistical officers, 8 statistical assistants, 8 junior statistical assistants, four junior stenographers and 12 orderlies.
The proposed State Planning Board would work on the pattern of Planning Commission of India, with Chief Minister as chairman and 12 other members including Members of Legislative Council, Legislative Assembly, Member Parliament and retired bureaucrats, besides people well versed in economics and statistics. |
