Madhya Pradesh, the heartland of the country, has established new dimensions of development in the last decade and a half and has established itself as a developed state. According to the Good Governance and Development Report-2022 of Madhya Pradesh, due to the changes in the state, Madhya Pradesh has become an example among developed states rising from the Bimaru status. The model of development with people’s participation in the state has played an important role in this great achievement. Under the able leadership of Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the double engine government at the center and the state has made Madhya Pradesh exemplary for other states. In this period, along with road, electricity, water, agriculture, tourism, water-conservation, irrigation, investment, self-employment and infrastructure development, a new saga of well-thought-out and all-round development was written on all those aspects, which are related to public welfare and are necessary for development.
Due to better financial management and all-round development, today the state’s growth rate is 19.7 percent, which is the highest in the country. Madhya Pradesh is contributing 4.6 percent in the country’s economy. The GDP has increased by 200 percent in the last decade. The economic growth rate of Madhya Pradesh is continuously increasing. The rate of 4.43 percent in the year 2001-02 has increased to 16.43 percent today. The state’s gross domestic product has increased from Rs. 71 thousand 594 crore to Rs. 13 lakh 22 thousand 821. In the year 2001-02, the per capita income was Rs 11 thousand 718, which has increased to Rs one lakh 40 thousand 583 in the year 2022-23. The GSDP growth rate of the state has been higher than the national GDP growth rate in the last decade.
Keeping in view the importance of infrastructure in the development process, continuous infrastructure development is taking place in Madhya Pradesh. The infrastructure budget, which was Rs 3873 crore in the year 2002-03, has increased to Rs 56 thousand 256 crore in the year 2023-24. There was a time when there was excess of power cuts. Today the state is self-sufficient in the power sector and there is 24-hour power availability. In the year 2003, the energy capacity was 5173 MW, which has increased to 28 thousand MW.
Madhya Pradesh is also leading in the field of renewable energy. The work of 600 MW floating solar power plant has started in Omkareshwar with an investment of about Rs 3500 crores. There is a target of setting up 50,000 solar pumps in farmers’ fields. Very soon the world heritage site Sanchi will develop into a solar city and make its own identity in the country.
Good roads are the axis of development. There was a time when it was not known whether there are potholes in the road or there is a road in potholes. Now a network of good quality roads has been laid from village to village, city to city. There were 44 thousand kilometers of roads in urban and rural areas in the year 2001-02, now 4 lakh 10 thousand kilometers of roads have been built. In the National Highway Project, 35 works of about 1500 km length costing Rs 40 thousand crores have been approved. Malwa, Bundelkhand and Madhya Vikas Path are being constructed along with Atal, Narmada and Vindhya Pragati Path.
To eliminate all railway crossings in the state, 334 bridges are being constructed along with 105 railway over bridges. Along with this, the works of railway projects worth more than 86 thousand crores are going on. Between 2009 and 2014, where the state used to get an average railway budget of Rs. 632 crore, in the year 2022-23, a provision of Rs. 13 thousand 607 crore has been received, which is twenty one times more. Under Amrit Bharat Railway Station Scheme, 80 railway stations of the state will be made world class. The ultramodern Rani Kamalapati station has become a model in the country. One Vande Bharat train has started and now Prime Minister Shri Modi is going to gift 2 more Vande Bharat trains to Madhya Pradesh. Air services are also expanding continuously in the state.
Continuous development of irrigation potential is being done to make agriculture a profitable business in the state. In the year 2003, the irrigation potential was only 7 lakh 68 thousand hectare, which has increased to more than 45 lakh hectare in the year 2022. Work is being done at a fast pace to increase the irrigation capacity to 65 lakh hectares by the year 2025. Work is going on at a fast pace on Har Ghar Jal se Nal Yojana, till now almost 50% of the houses have been provided with tap water. During the Amrit Kaal of independence, more than 5936 Amrit Sarovars have been constructed in the state so far. In the first phase of Ken-Betwa link project, the construction work of the dam, link canal and power house will start this year. Water security plans have been prepared in about 700 gram panchayats under the Atal Bhu-Jal Yojana.
With infrastructure development and better financial management, agricultural development and farmer-welfare works are also being done at a fast pace in the state as it is agriculture dominated. Madhya Pradesh, which has received the prestigious Krishi Karman Award for 7 consecutive times, has left Punjab and Haryana behind in wheat procurement. Wheat of the state with grains like gold is exported to many countries including America. Export Promotion Council has also been formed in the state. The agriculture growth rate which was 03 percent in the year 2002-03 has increased to 18.89 percent in the year 2020-21. The budget of agriculture and allied sector has also increased from Rs. 600 crore to Rs. 53 thousand 964 crore. Food production has also increased from 159 lakh metric tonnes to 619 lakh metric tonnes during this period. n
The area under horticulture crops has increased from 4 lakh 67 thousand hectare to 25 lakh hectare. Crop production has increased from 224 lakh metric tonnes to more than 725 lakh metric tonnes. The crop productivity has increased from 1195 kilogram to 2421 kilogram per hectare. For the purpose of farmers’ welfare, a relief amount of more than 4000 crores has been distributed in the state in the last 3 years on the loss of crops. Mukhyamantri Farmer Interest Waiver Scheme has been started to waive the interest of 2123 crores of more than 11 lakh defaulter farmers of the state. In the last 3 years, benefits worth more than Rs. 2 lakh 69 thousand 686 crore have been distributed to the farmers under various government schemes. Crop damage compensation rates have also been increased manifold.
This story of progress and development of the state in the field of infrastructure, agriculture-farmers and farmers-welfare is a hallmark. The last one and a half decade is the witness to progress, development and prosperity of the people in every field in the state.
