'Bihar needs Central fund'

A single index of backwardness in any state is its per capita power consumption. But in a state like Bihar the per capita power consumption is 75 KW as against a national average of 600 KW.

This was stated by eminent economist Amaresh Bagchi while delivering the valedictory speech at a workshop on "Bihar Economic Survey: Appraisal and Improvements" organised jointly by the government of Bihar and Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) here on Wednesday.

He said, "In no way private sector will come to Bihar because of the infrastructural constraints. as such, a major shift in planning strategy is needed." He also focused on expansion of more and more SEZs in the state. Bagchi said he visualised no scope of development of the state without Central investment in a big way. He said the Economic Survey should also focus on how much freedom the state government enjoys in carrying out its planning.

He also said an estimate of Central funds that goes directly to civil society organisations by-passing the state needs to be included in the economic survey.

In his valedictory speech chief economic advisor to the Union finance ministry Dr Arvind Virmani said existing poverty alleviation funds was more than enough to bring BPL people up to the poverty line mark. However, in this regard he said the main bottle-neck was the way resources are transferred to the beneficiaries. He suggested use of smart cards and banking system to transfer cash to the bottom 50 per cent of the society as a method of poverty alleviation.

Virmani said government expenditure had no correlation with growth rates of economy. Stressing on the need to concentrate on public expenditure on roads and urban planning for development of towns to encourage the growth of arteries of commerce, Virmani said let a hundred town bloom as towns to make the country modern. He said the government should create an environment for private investment in skill development.