Planning Commission Approves Rs. 15,900 crore Plan for Bihar

Monday, February 23, 2009

Posted by Snehsan

Much to the satisfaction of the Bihar government and the people of Bihar, the Planning Commission on Monday okayed an annual plan of Rs. 15,900 crore for the fiscal year 2009-10, an increase of Rs. 2,400 crore over last year's plan.The announcement came soon after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi met with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia at Vikas Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday and presented their case demanding more money for developing infrastructure in the state and help in improving power situation in Bihar."We have laid out many plans to attract investment but have not attained the desired result in the lack of adequate power in the state. Bihar is in dire need of more electricity which has led us to initiate a number of thermal power projects but this alone cannot extricate the state from its current anemic state. We must get some real help from the Center in terms of developing infrastructure if we wish to see some real change in Bihar," Kumar said at the meeting as reported by government officials.Kumar also took a dig at the previous Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) regime blaming it for pushing Bihar into the dark age by its anti-development agenda."Lalu Prasad Yadav's election symbol is lantern and that's exactly where he drove the state to during his 15 years of rule in Bihar – the lantern age. There is a serious power crisis in the state because the RJD leaders did not wish to see Bihar develop like other states. After all, how long we have to live in the dark age?" the Chief Minister asked. Montek by and large agreed with Kumar and praised him for doing extremely well during his three-year rule in Bihar.