In another series of letters to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has sought Rs 758 crore for revival of non-licensed Cooperative banks and funds for laying and renovation ofnational highways running across the state.
In his first letter, Yadav said that out of the 7,600 km national highways, the state had been given the responsibility of renovation and maintenance of 3,600 km of these roads. “But it has come to my notice that Central allocation of funds has come down drastically in three fiscal from Rs 24 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 13 crore in 2014-15,” he said in the letter. Besides, he said, in 2014-15, the Central Government promised Rs 1,183 crore for widening and construction of culverts on national highways but the state had so far received just Rs 354 crore.
“The Union Government also owes over Rs 125 crore to Uttar Pradesh under Inter-State Connectivity Scheme. The Union Government should release this money at the earliest so that development work could gather pace,” he said. In another letter, Yadav said the Union Government should release overRs 758 crore for revival of 16 non-licensed co-operative banks as proposed by the Prof A Vaidyanathan Committee.“The Government on its own had tried to revive these banks and had allocated Rs 565 crore in the Budget of 2014-15. But the state should get as per the revival package proposed by the Vaidyanathan Committee,” he said.