CM asks officers to get Central funds released Sets November 30 deadline

In a fresh directive, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked officials to seek matching funds from the Centre for the on-going centrally sponsored schemes and has set a deadline of November 30 for achieving this goal.

A senior official in the Chief Minister’s secretariat told ‘The Pioneer’ here on Thursday that directives had been issued to principal secretary rank officers of PWD, Irrigation, Health, Finance, Environment, External-aided projects and Power departments to get in touch with their counterparts in the Central Government and get the matching grants cleared at the earliest.

“A rough estimate suggests that funds amounting to over Rs 2,400 crore in form of matching grants for the centrally-sponsored schemes are pending with the Union Government. The state Government has submitted job completion certificates and is awaiting central funds for the remaining projects,” the official said.

The biggest share of this fund is of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with the state Government awaiting clearance of over Rs 500 crore. 

Sources said that the Union Government had objected to re-naming of national ambulance service as Samajwadi Ambulance Service and stopped the central funds.

“It has been clarified that Samajwad is a social phenomenon and has nothing to do with politics or the ruling political dispensation in Uttar Pradesh. Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan too has clarified this to Union Health Secretary luv Verma. It was promised that UP would get its share but we are still waiting for clearance of the funds,” the official said.

According to the sources, the Union Government has also withheld funds for Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, a Central Government sponsored scheme, on the pretext that the state Government has not constructed the approach roads connecting villages with the state highways.

Several projects like cleaning of major rivers in Uttar Pradesh and construction of barrages on canals have been stalled because of lack of Central assistance.

“The Government has initiated the process to prepare its budget. We want to have our vision clear as what amount of Central fund UP will get. In the winter session, the Government will seek supplementary grants of Rs 1,000 crore to meet our expenses for the next four months but we have a long-term vision,” the official said.