States reject ‘flexible’ CSS as eyewash
The Planning Commission has included the provision of flexi-Fund in the 12th Plan (2012-17) that would allow states to use 20% of the total allocation under CSS for projects designed by them.
“They (the Centre) speak about flexibility, but there's hardly any change. They should really let us design the CSS according to our own needs. There can't be a policy of one-size-fits-all," Chattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh told FE.
Jharkhand CM Arjun Munda echoed the concerns, saying there's a lack of holistic planning. “The Centre should give us our share instead of designing the schemes. State like ours suffer because our needs are different from developed states,” he said. Currently, the Centre frames the guidelines and puts in a lion’s share of funds needed to run a CSS, leaving states with limited scope in implementation.
From April, the scheme would become ‘flexibile’, giving states autonomy to spend 20% of CSS funds allocated under a scheme after they restructur it as per their needs. But this would be possible only in a limited manner and after getting approval from the Planning Commission. This is what annoys states.
“The Centre should give states share instead of designing a uniform scheme for the country," Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan told FE. The views of the
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