Telling the chief ministers that the aim under the XI Plan “was (to) achieve the target of 9 per cent growth” he reiterated that “agriculture as a whole is in the midst of a crisis” which cannot be allowed to go on.

In fact, at the end of the over eight-hour meeting, Singh said he would call for a special meet of the NDC to specifically discuss the strategies for this sector as the XI Plan targets the agricultural sector to grow at 4 per cent as against the current 2 per cent.

He also urged the state chief ministers to ensure that their states come forward and sign MoUs to take benefit of ADB’s line of credit towards the cooperative sector.

Earlier in the day, in a marked departure from earlier tradition, he asked states to implement the quantifiable and monitorable targets socio-economic targets that the XI Plan for first time would spell out. These according to the PM relate “to employment generation, school drop out rates, infant mortality rates, maternal mortality rates and other important indicators”.

At the inter-state council, pointing out that cases continued to be registered under the weaker provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), instead of the stronger provisions of the Prevention of Atrocities Act, the PM suggested creation of special cells, preferably manned by senior officers from the SC/ST community to monitor and enforce provisions of this Act.

He, however, added that legislation alone wasn’t sufficient in dealing with social violence. What was needed was compassion for the victim, a firm resolve to deal with the perpetrators and political will to enforce the law and ensure easy access to the police and the justice system for the vulnerable sections, he said.

... contd.