Hill states need planning commission most: Virbhadra

Shimla : Himachal Pradesh chief minister Virbhadra Singh said Sunday that the planning commission must continue as hill states need it the most.

Virbhadra said this while participating in a meeting convened by prime minister Narendra Modi with chief ministers in New Delhi to seek their views on the structure and functioning of the revamped planning commission.

He said all hill states had been declared as special category states by the National Developmental Council in order to fulfill peculiar developmental need and this had helped to carry out development in geographically tough areas.

The planning commission over the years helped the hill states of themcountry in accelerating the pace of development by providing financial and technical assistance.

It recognized the problems faced by hill states and made appropriate recommendations based on different studies to compensate them.

“Hill economies have been able to sustain themselves due to continuous support in form of plan assistance by the planning commission,” Virbhadra said.