'Mid-term appraisal of 12th Plan to help govt judge its work'

NEW DELHI: The mid-term appraisal of the 12th plan of the Planning Commission for which preparatory work has started will be a good opportunity for the government to judge the work done so far, Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said today.

"I think mid-term appraisal will be good opportunity to judge what it is that we have got right, what is that we got almost right and what it is that we need to address," Ahluwalia said while addressing the Health Summit organised by CII here.

He said the mid-term appraisal of 12th Plan (2012-17) will be done by the end of 2014.

"In the Planning Commission, the institute has to produce the mid-term appraisal of the 12th Plan somewhere towards the end of next calender year. Of course, we will have a new government in place...and the new Commission. So the actual mid-term appraisal will be with the formation of new government," he said.

Ahluwalia said the preparatory work for the appraisal has already started.

He said the government has given importance to healthcare and education in the 12th Plan.

"In the 12th Plan itself...two sections which are given more importance in terms of directing government money are health and education."

Ahluwalia also said more is needed to be done in the area of PPP in healthcare segment.

He also said that the issue of high fee in the area of medical education needs to be addressed.