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Economic
Development Policy |
| DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY . . .
MP CONNECTS |
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Connectivity
shell the
cornerstone of Madhya Pradesh’s Economic Development Strategy i.e.
Physical Connectivity, Virtual Connectivity and Social
Connectivity.
Access,
to infrastructure (both physical & social,
to information, to resources, to markets & suppliers, and most of
all to opportunities shell be the by-line
of the State’s Development Initiative. Providing connectivity to
mandis, to rural areas, to urban centres, and to the rest of the
country shell be the key elements of the Economic Development
Policy.
MP
Connects People . . .
..... To People
The
Economic Development Policy attempts to connect people with people through the
development of roads, rail, air
and communication infrastructure. Backward areas, hitherto isolated,
shell be the integrated integrated with the rest of the economy.
Rural centres shell be linked with other rural and urban centres for access to
opportunities for self-development and employment. The urban
clusters in the state shell have
connectivity to national centres for increased economic activity.
.... To
Government
Access
to information is a very potent empowering agent. In this context,
Information Technology shall be leveraged to provide connectivity to all
villages through a network of information kiosks. IT connectivity shall be used to deliver citizen
services efficiently and transparently. It shall also be used as a
medium for building capabilities of people in the rural areas. It shall
empower people by providing them with online
information on Government schemes and on their rights. This network
would be of particular use in the dissemination of technologies for
strengthening rural economic activities, including agriculture and
social infrastructure and would also enable greater transparency in the
operation of Government schemes and programs.
.....
To Potential
Building
the capabilities of the masses to enable them to realise their true
potential and become active contributors to the economic process is
critical to any developmental exercise. High growth rates will continue
to be elusive unless action is taken on this front. The state shall
actively invest in the development of healthy, skilled and educated
human resources in the state. It shall provide access to primary
education and health facilities to all. It shall seek to foster an
environment conducive to the development of skill, innovation and
technology. In this context, the concept of promoting a National
Centre for Learning’, consisting of Centres of Excellence in
higher education in various disciplines shall be pursued. The private
sector shall be encouraged to actively participate in this initiative.
......
To Opportunities
Finally,
the state shall ensure the creation of adequate work opportunities for
its people through the development of economic activity in the state.
The state shall focus on labour intensive and skill oriented sectors
where Madhya Pradesh enjoys a relative advantage. These include Horticulture,
Animal Husbandry, Inland Fishery, Minor Forest Produce, Agro-Industry,
Life Sciences, Ready Made Garments, IT Enabled Services and Tourism. In order to catalyse high growth rates the state
shall attempt to transform its role from a pervasive controller of
private sector activity and direct producer (in several cases) to that
of an enabler.
MP
Connects Agriculture . . .
..... To Best Farm Practices & Technology
Development
of the Agriculture sector is contingent upon the development of
technology appropriate to the agro-climatic conditions of the state and
the dissemination of this knowledge at the grass root level. The state
shall foster the development of a vibrant Life
Sciences sector to address this need gap and also to capitalise on
its vast wealth of bio-diversity in the post WTO regime.
The
lack of knowledge or information on farming practices suited to the
agro-climatic conditions of the state perhaps leads to low yields and
average quality of the output. A modern and innovative approach to
Agriculture Extension Services is the need of the day. The State shall
solicit private sector participation, upgrade & modernize training
course content and harness IT for improved access and communication at
the grass root level. Access to markets, whether through mandis, or
through corporate, is a key driver for improving output. The
inaccessibility of villages and regions is probably the biggest
deterrent to the development of the sector. Therefore rural connectivity
shall be developed through a Rural
Roads Program and through providing e-connectivity
to the villages. These programs can become the catalysts for the
development of the rural sector.
..... To Industry
Value
addition in the sector will lead to greater overall prosperity. The
state shall focus special attention on the development of the agro-industry through the creation of a
framework for contract farming, freeing of restrictive restrictive regulations, provision of infrastructure support and
the nomination of a Nodal Agency for the development of this sector.
MP
Connects Industry & Services . . .
....... To Infrastructure
Inadequacy
of Infrastructure, including roads, rail, air, ports, power,
telecommunication, industrial estates and urban centres, has become a
major constraint to the development of the industrial sector.
Enterprise cannot thrive in isolation - it requires connectivity
to markets, to raw materials and access to reliable and reasonably
priced utilities. The state should make infrastructure development a
priority. Though efforts have been made to augment infrastructure
availability through private sector participation, the requisite policy
framework, which ensures an attractive return, is yet to be put in
place. In the interim, the State shall take the lead in developing the
infrastructure. In this context, the State shall focus on the
development of a ‘World City’
as a showcase destination of investments.
Madhya
Pradesh, with its location in the centre of the country, is ideally
poised to exploit the Logistics
opportunity in the country. Given the concentration of processing
activity in the southern and western parts of the country and raw
material producing and consumption centres in the northern parts, there
is a huge opportunity for the state to become a redistribution centre.
The state shall strive to leverage this advantage by encouraging the
development of warehousing and transportation infrastructure across the
state with excellent port connectivity.
...... To Markets
Tapping
external markets is critical to achieving high growth rates. The WTO has
opened up various opportunities for the country, particularly in areas
such as RMG, food, both processed and fresh. While various quality and
infrastructure related bottlenecks are prevalent, the state shall take
them up as a challenge and strive to improve the connectivity to major
ports and urban clusters. A Special
Economic Zone is recommended at Indore. This will lead to the
creation of infrastructure for an import led growth.
...... To Skills & Knowledge
The
availability of skilled manpower is an important consideration in the
location decision of industry, especially for high tech sectors such as
Information Technology, Life Sciences etc. The state shall aggressively
foster the development of an economy based on skill, knowledge and
innovation. Vocational and Professional training institutes shall be set
up in collaboration with private sector. Bhopal shall be developed as a
”Univercity” and promoted
as the ‘National Centre for
Learning’.
..... To Government
Nurturing
and attracting Industry & Services will require various urgent
initiatives on the part of the State Government, particularly in view of
the growing competition among states. Industry still suffers from a
number of controls and bureaucratic impediments leading to
delays in implementation. The state shall ensure a hassle free
experience for its investors through progressive deregulation,
decentralization & self certification and the development of a Single
Agency system. In this context, the state shall leverage Information
Technology for facilitation of industry and assistance in providing a
hassle free experience.
MP
Connects the Government . . .
…
To Departments
In
view of the lead role that the Government is required to adopt in the
development process, the urgency with which this needs to be executed
and the compulsions for efficient utilisation of resources, the State shall constitute
a nodal agency to oversee and de-bottleneck the development process.
This body shall have representation from relevant departments so as to
cut through the red tape and expedite the process of policy development,
identification and sanctioning of key projects and finally, monitoring
their progress. In all of this a strong programmatic
approach will be critical to the success of the venture.
…
To Governments
In
addressing its social commitments of providing basic services to the masses
the State shall actively encourage Local
Self Governance. Past experience has shown that functions and
services, which are localised in nature, are most efficiently
implemented by local entities. In this context, the government shall
progressively devolve resources and responsibility to the local bodies
and empower them for raising their own resources. The lower tiers of the
Government can be the effective delivery vehicles for the state’s key
initiatives.
The
E-Governance initiative shall
be employed to facilitate co-ordination between various Departments
through better flow of information. This initiative shall aim at
improving communication between the departments and also enabling
transparency, accountability and efficiency in the provision of public services.
The focus of the e-governance initiative shall be on improving the
back-end processes and systems of the government departments so as to
provide efficient and responsive governance.
...
To Fiscal Responsibility
The
general condition of the state finances requires review, especially as
the onus of the development initiative particularly in areas of social
and physical infrastructure and services is likely to rest with the
state. The resource generating capacity needs to keep pace with its
growing commitments. In this scenario, it is the social commitments,
which suffer the most. The government shall look at mobilising greater
resources through better collection mechanisms and pricing of services
commensurate with their costs. Divestment of activities that can be
executed more efficiently by the private sector shall be encouraged to
unlock scarce resources. On the other hand, every effort will be made to
control non-plan expenditures and the increasing losses in the
subsidised sectors such as power, irrigation, and transport. There is a
need for a systematic review of the numerous subsidies that have come
into being over the years, and a conscious move shall be made towards
direct and transparent subsidies.
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