G.Srinivasan
NEW DELHI, May 29
MADHYA PRADESH, being the biggest State areawise, is adopting an
alternative model of development by working from the grassroots to
implement Gandhian Gram Swaraj and using information technology (IT) for
the common people in far-flung areas to ensure even development at all
levels.
In an exclusive interview to Business Line here, the Chief Minister,
Mr. Digvijay Singh, contends that ``our connectivity is one of the best in
the country. Every teshil/every district is connected by the IT now and 75
per cent of land area in MP is connected by Net now. More than 20,000 km
of optical fibre network has been laid''.
Stating that the Government is introducing computer literacy in
schools, colleges and in distance education, Mr.Digvijay Singh said the
State's innovative IT Gyandoot project of Dhar district has been
shortlisted for Stockholm Challenge Award 2000. Gyandoot is an intranet of
computers in five blocks of Dhar districts where computers have been
installed at specially set up information kiosks at the village
panchayats. He said a team officials from the State would make a
presentation on June 5 in Stockholm and ``the whole thrust has been IT for
the common man''.
``We may appear to be not so far ahead in our high-tech. But we are not
far behind. We want e-governance go to the people. Our land records would
be computerised by June, 2001. We are a sort of creating taluk computer
data warehouses where all relevant information about the State would be
available to any person as source material. With this open policy we can
get some royalties and someone could earn his money through use of this
invaluable information'', he said.
On his devolution of powers to village, he said, ``I strongly believe
that people are the solution and they are not the problem. I sincerely
believe that in a State such as Madhya Pradesh and a country such as ours,
spread over a large areas, inaccessible areas, community involvement and
evolution of a system responsive to community needs alone are the
answer'', he said.
He said the State would soon come out with an industrial policy which
was ``basically less of rules and regulations, a better private sector
investment environment''. He said the State had not done too badly as it
figured prominently in the list of investment destination and in foreign
direct investment (FDI) ``we are second''. He said entrepreneurs had been
offered 99-year lease on land required by them for the setting up of
industries. The procedure for licensing mineral-based industries has been
simplified and the State has adopted a transparent policy on the import of
foreign technology for the exploitation of the mineral wealth.
Talking about the recent Supreme Court judgment in favour of the State
on the escrow cover for new power projects, Mr. Digvijay Singh said the
selection of companies which should get the escrow cover based on the
least cost tariff offered to the State Electricity Board under the power
purchase agreement had been ``justified.''
He said the State had recently entered into an MoU with the Government
of India and Union Ministry of Power, setting out the steps it would
undertake in the process of reform and restructuring its power sector.
Under the rationalisation of tariffs, he said, while needy consumers would
be protected through subvention by the State Government, all classes of
consumers should pay a price which should cover at least 75 per cent of
the cost of supply of electricity to that needy class, subject to decision
by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.
He said the State also entered into an MoU with National Hydroelectric
Power Corporation (NHPC) to exploit the hydro electric potential of the
Narmada Basin by taking up and completing the Indira Sagar and Omkareshwar
Projects as a joint venture.
On the fiscal scene of the State, he said that it had come out of the
woods because of a medley of fiscal prudence, medium-term strategic
planning, enhanced access to global aid and domestic market borrowing.
In the current fiscal, the State has not been in overdraft for a single
day and it had treasury bills of Rs 452.18 crores as on mid-May, 2000. It
has been able to make advance payments of Central loans in the current
fiscal to the order of Rs. 503.88 crores.
He claimed that the political will in pursuing austerity and economy
measures and in resisting pressures for meaningless transfers had been one
of the major factors in rapid fiscal correction with strict action against
defaulting officers, wrongful appointments and budgetary control signaling
the seriousness of the Government.
He said serious efforts were made by evolving a medium-term budgetary
framework with focus on cut in revenue deficit and particularly primary
deficit over five years.
For the first time, a profile of receipts and expenditure was worked
out on a normative basis to chart a path to fiscal sustainability, he said
adding that the State realised the importance of downsizing regular staff
by 30 per cent.
Alongside, it has also emphasised the importance of stepping up capital
outlay on infrastructure through the establishment of Infrastructure Board
and the flotation of Rs. 500 crore road bonds. He said revision of user
charges was made with the objective of covering operational costs in core
sectors such as irrigation, health and education.
