OneWorld.net (U.S.)

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday projected a growth rate of seven and eight per cent for the rest of the Tenth Plan. He exhorted the National Development Council (NDC) to approve and implement the correctives enunciated in the Planning Commission's Mid-Term Appraisal (MTA) with special emphasis on agricultural reforms.

Addressing the Chief Ministers and Lieutenant Governors while inaugurating the two-day 51st meeting of the Council, Dr. Singh conceded that the original Tenth Plan growth target of 8.1 per cent could not be achieved, mainly on account of the sagging farm sector growth, which is perceived to have deprived the rural poor of substantial attendant benefits.

``We cannot achieve the original Tenth Plan target of eight per cent growth over the Plan period as a whole ... The Mid-Term Appraisal shows that performance thus far is well below this target, averaging 6.5 per cent in the past three years,'' he said. This was perceived as a dig at the performance of the previous BJP-led National Democratic Alliance regime.

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