Madhya
Pradesh, the Heartland State of India, completes
fifty-three years of its existence on November 1, 2009.
Five and a quarter of decades is not a very long time for
any vast State like Madhya Pradesh to grow to its full
potential; however, it is not very short time either. In
this long but not-too-short chequered journey Madhya
Pradesh has definitely developed considerably, but not at
the pace expected given its immense potential in the form
of rich natural and mineral wealth, central geographical
location, peace loving and industrious people, fertile
soil, meandering rivers and other factors that which are a
prerequisite for overall development of any State.
After
formation of States on linguistic basis the part that was
left over was formed into a state and christened Madhya
Pradesh due to its central location. When the then Prime
Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru saw the map of the State
he commented, of course, in a lighter vein, that it looked
like a strange animal. However, he was aware of the fact
that if the potential of Madhya Pradesh were tapped to the
full it would emerge as one of the most developed States
of the country.
It
did happen, but just about. While the well-meaning efforts
and intentions of the successive state governments and
leaders for development of the State since its inception
of the State more than deserve due recognition and
appreciation, nevertheless, it remains a fact that a thing
called Grand Vision distinctly lacked and the approach was
ad hoc and piecemeal. This has been a major reason for
underdevelopment of the State.
Another
reason proffered by some thinkers that Madhya Pradesh
lacks a common cultural bonding due to the fact that the
people of this landlocked State living in its different
regions have cultural traits of their respective adjoining
States. Thus, it could not be crucible of these different
traits. It had been true to an extent for some time, but
now this no longer hold true. Madhya Pradesh, living up to
its soubriquet of being the Heartland State of India
proved to be a melting pot and now people living in every
region of the State feel proud Mpans.
Development,
anyone would agree, is a continuous process. Man, by
instinct, always tries to make things better around him.
The same is the case with a country or a State. However,
some people or leaders are passionate and exceptionally
enthusiastic about it. They are able to put the
development process on a fast track; thereby making the
changes for as better happen at a quicker pace is
concerned.
The
last six years, particularly preceding about four years
since when Shri Shivraj Singh has been the Chief Minister,
would go down as watershed in the annals of Madhya Pradesh
as for acceleration of development pace. Never before had
the State witnessed the changes of far reaching effect and
importance. This has, indeed, been the period of
metamorphosis of the State from a laggard to a fastest
mover State.
The
first and most formidable challenge before the nascent
state government was to put the economy of the State back
on track as it had inherited empty coffers. The government
successfully met this challenge as a result of which
Madhya Pradesh is now known for its most prudent fiscal
management. Madhya Pradesh has given such a good account
on this score that during last six years it had not had
the overdraft of even a single day and no payment was ever
withheld for want of funds. The base of State’s economy
has become so sound that despite worldwide recession and
grant of the Sixth Pay Scale benefits to the employees,
Madhya Pradesh has registered a significant increase in
GDP growth rate while national economic growth rate has
gone down. For the first five years the State government
introduced no fresh tax. As per the advance estimates of
2008-09 the farm production has also increased by 5.61
percent in the state.
The
Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has shown a firm
commitment to turning agriculture into a lucrative
proposition and to bringing the farmers on a better
footing. For this while the cost of farming is being
reduced, it is also being ensured that the farmers get a
better return of their produce. Suitable amendments have
been made in the Revenue Book o Circulars (RBC) to provide
greater relief and assistance to farmers in the event of a
natural calamity and at the time of distress. Electricity
supply to farm sector has considerably improved in
comparison to year 2003-04. The outstanding bills of the
farmers have been waived off and subsidized power is being
provided to them. A number of long-dragging major
irrigation projects have been completed on a war footing
and various minor and micro irrigation schemes launched
for the farmers. When the present state government took
over the State was crying for power and roads. Things have
now palpably improved on a sustained basis and power
crisis would be overcome soon. Over 40 thousand km length
of road has been constructed or upgraded over last six
years in the State.
Another
creditable achievement of the present State government is
that it has been able to attract investment in industry
sector from within as well as outside the country. For a
period of about ten years the investors and industrialists
would not hear of investing in Madhya Pradesh because of
pitiable condition of infrastructure. Besides, the
potential of Madhya Pradesh had not been showcased at
national and international level in a proper way. The
Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh visited various
countries of the world and States of the country and held
a direct dialogue with the captains of industry, allaying
their apprehensions and convincing them how investment in
Madhya Pradesh would benefit them. Global Investors Meets
were held at Khajuraho, Indore, Gwalior and other meets at
Jabalpur and Sagar and now another such meet is scheduled
for next month at Indore. The state government came out
with an investor-friendly industrial policy and took
effective measures to revive the sick industrial units in
the state. As a result of this, now big industrial houses
and investors are more than eager to make investment in
Madhya Pradesh. The areas in which they prefer for
investment include food processing, for which the state
government has implemented a very comprehensive policy,
IT, higher education, marble industry, diamond cutting
etc. A total of 307 MoUs have been signed for investment
of Rs. 40 thousand crore . In last five years investment
of Rs. 4791 crore has been made in 89 major industries.
Over 87 thousand micro and minor industrial units have
been set up in the state with a capital investment of over
Rs 40 crore. These have provided employment to over two
lakh people.
A
unique thing about the present government is that while
paying utmost attention to infrastructure, industry and
other such sector, it never neglected social sector and
gave equal importance to it. The Ladli Laxmi Yojana
introduced by the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh
Chouhan has been acclaimed at national level and adopted
by some other states. This scheme aims at putting an end
to discrimination against girl child and to facilitate
them to grow to their full potential. Similarly, Mukhya
Mantri Kanyadan Yojana has proved a boon for the poor
families as the marriages of their daughters are sponsored
by the government. The government has taken care of the
people engaged in unorganized sector and a number of
social security and other schemes have been launched for
them.
Realizing
the fact that the schemes conceived and prepared in the
air conditioned rooms of Mantralaya often fail due to lack
of knowledge of ground realities of the policy makers, the
Chief Minister started a unique practice of convening
Panchayats of different groups of people to elicit their
views and suggestions before formulating any scheme for
them. During the Panchayats he holds a direct dialogue
with the people and asks them to express themselves
without hesitation. The eloquence in airing their views
without fear or hesitation by the people is amazing. This
has helped the state government to modify, fine tune or
even re-formulate various schemes to ensure their greater
benefit to the target groups.
Of
course, things do not change overnight but the changes,
which are not cosmetic or skin deep, definitely go a long
way to change the scenario for the better. And this is
exactly what is happening in Madhya Pradesh. One hardly
has an option but to agree that Madhya Pradesh has come of
age.
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