PM meeting tomorrow on expediting UPA's schemes

Concerned over tardy progress of government projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will meet top officials on Friday to finalise a strategy for expediting implementation of the UPA regime's flagship schemes within the next six months.

The meeting, to be attended by deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia among others, will deliberate at length on the issues pertaining to six sectors.

These include agriculture, social sectors (health, PDS and education), infrastructure, governance and minorities issues.

The meeting is likely to focus on removing impediments which are hampering implementation of the announced projects and policies which have been on the drawing board for long, official sources said.

The economic agenda to be pursued in the next six months could

include finalisation of the Mineral Policy, taking a view on foreign direct investment in retail, formulation of policy for allocating additional spectrum to telecom operators and revamping of Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme to improve efficiency of electricity utilities.

The social sector agenda of Singh includes pushing the Aam Admi Bima Yojana and Old Age Pension for the labour class, besides revamping Integrated Child Development Scheme and strengthening the public distribution system.

In another crucial area of agriculture, the prime minister is expected to push for credit guarantee scheme, agriculture debt redemption fund, crop insurance and conversion of Kisan Credit cards to Smart Cards. The meeting will also discuss follow up action on the Radhakrishna Committee report on rural indebtedness.