Poverty will be wiped out in 20 yrs if economy grows by 8-9 % : FM

New Delhi, Sep 14 (UNI) Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India's abject poverty will be eliminated in the next 20 years if the economy maintains the present growth of 8-9 per cent.

Speaking at the Chief Minister's conclave Mr Chidambaram said, ''Unfortunately the growth story has not been even among the states and within some parts of the state, as a result economic progress has not been well-appreciated.'' He emphasised that it is important to know why one state succeed more than the other or why one part of the state succeed more than the rest.

Outlining that the problem can be a legacy issue, Mr Chidambaram said there cannot be a problem which cannot be overcome by logic and the law of economy.

Asking the CMs to adresss the economic problems, he said, ''It is a mere myth that states do not have enought money.'' He said 11 states put together will account for Rs 34,519 crore in 14 days treasury and Rs 38,576 crore in 91 day T-bills.

The money being devoured by the state in form of tax revenue, loans and grants has substantially increased and the 10 per cent growth in the next six years will result into more money being devoured than the last six years, he added.

Stating that there is no paucity of programmes, he said there are enough programmes to reach everyone. ''Aam Admi Bima Yojana'' to be launched on September 30 is an indicator of this, he added.

''None of the states are big or small in their contribution, all are equal partners and it is very importamt to run the programmes in a sense of partnership and ownership,'' Mr Chidambaram said.

UNI