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PM hints at cut in subsides at NDC meet

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today hinted at a cut in subsidies, including ''implicit'' subsidy in higher education, and an increase in charges of electricity and irrigation.

Addressing the National Development Council meeting in New Delhi, Vajpayee said there is need to levy ''reasonable'' user charges wherever possible, particularly for non-merit goods and services. Untargeted and unintended subsidies often lead to distortions in resource allocation, besides failing to benefit the really poor. Reforms in the power sector, which the government has been stressing at the Centre, must be quickly and effectively implemented by the states, he said.

UNI

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