Accusing the BJP-led Central Government of maintaining an apathetic attitude towards Uttarakhand, the Pradesh Congress Committee has decided to stage a day-long hunger strike outside the Prime Minister's residence on March 24. Stating this while addressing the media here on Tuesday, PCC president Kishore Upadhyaya also said that the PCC would be forming a committee to review the implementation of the Congress' Assembly election manifesto.
He said, "In the recent past, we had demonstrated at Jantar Mantar to elicit the focus of the Centre on the State's requirements. However, Uttarakhand was ignored in the Rail Budget and also in the General Budget, as a result of which we estimate that Uttarakhand will lose about Rs2,200 crore in cancelled Central assistance.
Despite State's repeated requests, the Centre has not given any money yet for the 2016 Ardh Kumbh nor has any assistance been given for the Char Dham Yatra. We will stage a 24-hour fast outside the PM's residence on March 24 against this and the land Acquisition Bill. The PCC will organise some event every month in Delhi to remind the Centre of these issues until they change their apathetic attitude," said the PCC chief, while stressing that Uttarakhand should not be considered a small State as the future of about 600 lakh Indians also depend on it.
On being asked about the failure of the State Government to fully and effectively utilise Central funds under various schemes, Upadhyaya admitted that the utilisation of Central funds should be improved and added that he would raise this issue with Chief Minister Harish Rawat. Regarding the selection of the Congress candidate for the Bhagwanpur Assembly by-election, he said that deliberations were underway in the party on this subject and a decision is likely to be taken in a couple of days. On being asked about the failure of the Congress to implement various points on its 2012 Assembly election manifesto, Upadhyaya said he would soon be forming a committee to review the implementation of the party's poll manifesto.