India's 11th Five-Year Plan to get nod Wednesday

New Delhi, Dec 18 - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will chair a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) here Wednesday to approve the Rs.36.44 trillion ($910 billion) 11th Five-Year plan that runs till fiscal 2011-12.

The 54th NDC meeting comes in the backdrop of the Indian economy registering a growth of over 7.5 percent during the 10th plan and with the target of scaling it up to over 9 percent in the ensuing five years.

The meeting is to be attended by chief ministers and lieutenant governors of all state governments, key ministers of the Union Cabinet and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

'Towards Faster and More Inclusive Growth' is the central theme of the plan that runs from 2007-08 to 2011-12 and seeks to lower poverty by 10 percentage points, generate 70 million new jobs and reduce unemployment to less than five percent.

It also seeks to increase farm sector growth to 4 percent from 2.13 percent in the last plan and will focus on education by increasing central outlay in this area to 19 percent from less than 8 percent in the 10th plan.

After several months of hectic deliberations, the Planning Commission and the Union Cabinet had approved the draft Five Year Plan, which will now be placed before the NDC to give it an operational go ahead, officials said.

As many as 27 detailed national targets have been set in the plan ranging from enhancing income and reducing poverty, to education, literacy, health, infant mortality, maternal mortality and child development.

(c) Indo-Asian News Service

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