The statement made by Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh regarding the Central fund allocations to State during his recent visit to Dehradun contradicted the information provided by the Union Finance Minister in the Parliament as part of the General Budget 2015-16. While the Centre has slashed budgetary allocations to the State, the BJP in Uttarakhand is become restless with the rise in number of people undertaking the Char Dham Yatra in Uttarakhand, said Chief Mminister Harish Rawat’s media in-charge Surendra Kumar.
Addressing the mediapersons here, Kumar, referring to the cuts in Central funding to States, said, “MP Bhagat Singh Koshyari had spoken in the lok Sabha on the issue of Rs 2,500 crore loss to Uttarakhand due to change in funding pattern and cuts in Central scheme assistance. However, BJP State leadership silenced him. Had the union Agriculture minister known this and other aspects of the situation, he would have made some announcements for the State during this recent visit. The change in funding pattern of centrally funded schemes, 90:10 ratio of funding in special category states and implementation of the 14th finance commission recommendations are three separate issues and should not be mixed,” he added.
Pointing at the planned gherao of the Chief Minister’s residence by the BJP on Tuesday he said, “The BJP has been getting restless in Uttarakhand considering the consistent rise in number of people undertaking the Char Dham Yatra.
The BJP wants to hamper the pilgrimage and is sending a wrong message to pilgrims and tourists. They are accusing the State Government of corruption in disaster relief and other issues in order to divert the focus of the public from the failure of the NDA Government at the Centre to fulfil its election promises. In stead of holding a gherao of the CM’s residence and sending a negative message to pilgrims, the BJP should gherao the Central Government to secure the discontinued funds under central schemes for the State,” he added.