Raipur, January 24
Ruling BJP in Chhattisgarh has reason to smile again. After winning three national awards in last one week or so, Chhattisgarh has been ranked as best performing state in the country in most of key fiscal parameters according to Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report for year 2013-14. The BJP government is planning to launch massive propaganda drive across the State to encash its latest achievements in upcoming general elections.
Amid allegations by Congress that it had manipulated figures to win a host of national awards during its two tenures, the BJP has started its third innings in State by bagging Krishi Karman award 2012-13 for highest rice production, first prize for highest performance under MNREGA in 2012-13 and national award for Durg district for development of basic facility to urban poor.
With just two months remaining for Lok Sabha polls, the three national awards and RBI’s appreciation has reinvigorated the State BJP which was tirelessly searching unique selling points (USPs) to improve its brand image as a party with difference. CM Raman Singh and State BJP chief Vishnudev Sai are learnt to have talked to the party’s think-tank to include all these factors while framing comprehensive poll campaigning plan.
The RBI report says that Chhattisgarh has outperformed all other states in terms of efficiently managing development and social sector expenditures. The tribal-populated State’s development expenditure is 20.7 percent of gross state domestic product (GSDP), which is highest in the country. On this parameter, Bihar has been ranked second and Madhya Pradesh and Goa together share third position.
Social sector expenditure that includes education, health, SC/ST development, women and child development etc is another important aspect of state finance. By spending 14 percent of GSDP, Chhattisgarh again secures top position in social sector expenditure while Bihar keeps second slot. Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have been positioned at third slot.
Similarly, Chhattisgarh has second highest capital outlay after Goa with 4.2 percent of GSDP. Chhattisgarh also ranks among top five states in terms of own revenue generation with 8.9 percent of GSDP.
The RBI report further highlights that the State government's emphasis on development and social sector expenditures during the last decade have resulted in significant improvements and sharper decline in infant mortality rate, maternal mortality ratio and malnourishment as compared to all-India average. More importantly, despite heavy expenditure in development and social sector, the RBI study says that Chhattisgarh managed to keep its debt low through efficient and prudent fiscal management.
No comments:
Post a Comment