Going beyond the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that he would set up a subcommittee of the National Development Council (NDC) to go “into the complex challenges of urbanisation.”
The NDC on Saturday approved the mid-term appraisal of the 11th Plan, scaling down the annual average growth target to 8.1 per cent from 9 per cent targeted earlier.
The sub-committee would be headed by union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy, he said, adding that he had decided to do so on the urging of several chief ministers who attended the NDC meeting here on Saturday. Mr Reddy's report, which would be submitted within a year, would then be an input into the Twelfth Plan.
Simultaneously, in his closing remarks, Dr Singh stressed the need to “operationalise the proposed new Food Security Act as quickly as possible.” He also referred to the suggestions made by many chief ministers to strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS) to prevent large scale leakages and diversion of food grains.
The Prime Minister, while underlining the urgency of increasing agricultural productivity, gave a call for comprehensive reform of the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Acts to attract private sector investment in agricultural infrastructure, and the facilitation of intra and interstate free movement of agricultural commodities, specially perishable agri- products.
