Author: R K Mishra/ Gandhinagar
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: December 22, 2003
A reduction in revenue deficit from
Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore, revenue expenditure by four per cent
and a corresponding hike in income by 30 per cent, saving Rs 300 crore
in absolute terms through economic reforms and financial management coupled
with a resolve to achieve a 10.2 per cent growth rate during the Tenth
Plan, marks the completion of the first year of the Narendra Modi Government
in Gujarat. "The state may cross double digit growth rate this year itself",
said Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
Addressing a Press conference in
Ahmedabad on Sunday, on the eve of completing a year in office after the
sweeping electoral mandate of December 2002, Mr Modi outlined the initiatives
taken by his government in the form of "Panchamrat - a confluence of the
five "shaktis" - gyan (education), urja (energy), jal (water), jan (power
to the people), raksha (defence) - and spelled out the future course of
development. Mr Modi pointed out that in "gyan, Gujarat remained the only
state in South Asia to create the largest Information Technology (IT) network
through GSWAN for E-governance. Only Gujarat has a 40,000-km-long optic
fibre cable network and the highest teledensity."
Mr Modi observed that in the field
of "jal shakti, the state has created a world-class revolution of sorts
in water management practices having laid 1,400-km-long pipelines to carry
the Narmada waters to places far and between. The surplus water from the
Narmada was diverted into the Sabarmati, Saraswati, Banas Rupen and other
seasonal rivers." He said that a permanent solution has been found to meet
the perennial shortage of water in the drought-prone region with the Narmada
waters bringing an end to the corruption-ridden "Tanker Raj". An ambitious
river-grid project has also been taken up to link the Damanganga river
in the rain-fed south Gujarat. "While the previous governments built 4,000
check- dams in 40 years, over 25,000 checkdams have been built during the
last year", Mr Modi claimed.
The Chief Minister said that Gujarat
was credited with being the intiator of private sector, joint sector seaport
development with Dahej and Hazira, under development, as international
LNG terminals. "In urja shakti, the government has adopted a long-term
strategy to develop crude oil and natural gas as future engines of growth,
working hard so that Gujarat emerges as the petro-capital of India. The
gas-grid, part of the LNG infrastructure, is fast taking shape", he added.
The Chief Minister pointed out that
post-earthquake, Gujarat had set an example in disaster management not
only in the country but the entire world which won the state the prestigious
UN-Sasakawa Award for disaster reduction. "The mega-event global summit
- Vibrant Gujarat - organised during Navratri was a huge success and MOUs
for investment in projects worth over Rs 66,000 crore were signed. Separate
task forces have been set up for timely implementation of each project
on a fast track basis. New policies for industry, agriculture, mining,
tourism have been announced to complement the effort and remove all impediments
in development," he added. Mr Modi said that nearly 65 per cent of the
resolutions mentioned in the last Assembly elections' manifesto have been
implemented in the very first year itself and the remaining were in various
stages of being undertaken.
"Planned development to provide
world-class urban infrastructure is going on at a rapid pace as is work
on making available world-class infrastructure for ports and highways as
well", he added.
Mr Modi made it clear that his government
remained committed to the uplift of the have-nots, women's empowerment,
skill development among the youth and strengthening agro-based rural economy.
