By IANS
New Delhi : The Planning Commission Wednesday approved a plan outlay of Rs.116 billion for West Bengal next fiscal, even as Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought his help to check the outbreak of bird flu in the state and for a new airport near Kolkata.
“The prime minister assured me to take up the airport issue on priority basis,” Bhattacharjee told reporters here after his meeting with Manmohan Singh, which officials said lasted some 30 minutes at the prime minister’s South Block Office.
The chief minister also sought assistance to check bird flu in the state, where 3.51 million poultry birds had been culled till Tuesday.
Asked about the violence in Cooch-Behar, where clashes and police firing on Forward Bloc supporters left six people dead Tuesday, the chief minister said the incident was unfortunate.
“I have already ordered a magisterial inquiry in the incident,” he said. The state lay crippled after a 24-hour shutdown by Forward Bloc activists since Wednesday morning to protest the police firing in Cooch-Behar district’s Dinhata town.
During the meeting at South Block, Bhattacharjee also sought the prime minister’s intervention in getting the shipping ministry’s approval for a deep-sea port in Kolkata through public-private partnership or private participation.
Earlier, the Planning Commission finalised the annual plan outlay for the state after talks between Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Bhattacharjee. West Bengal Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta also attended the meeting.
Ahluwalia praised the state government for improving the fiscal health and also for achieving an 8.1 percent economic growth.
“Inclusive growth will have special focus on Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, other backward castes and minorities, along with all round development of women and children,” Bhattacharjee said.