With drought in Bundelkhand taking a political turn, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav will tour the rugged region again on April 18 and distribute Samajwadi food packets among the drought-hit people.
A senior official in CM’s office said that Yadav is likely to visit Mahoba on April 18 where he will distribute cheques under Samajwadi Pension Scheme to over 300 women and distribute food packets to Antodaya family members.
These food packets will comprise 25 kg wheat, 15 kg rice, 1 kg oil, three kg sugar and dal. The food would be distributed free of cost to the eligible families for the next four months under Food Security Act.
The official said that the government has ordered round the clock power supply to all seven districts of Bundelkhand. This has been done to ensure that the state-run tube wells worked to their full potential and provide drinking water to the people.
“The government has also approved a sum of Rs 30 crores for immediate solution to drinking water problem in Bundelkhand. Of this, Rs 10 crores would be spent to buy 81 tankers for Jhansi, four tankers for Jalaun, 141 for lalitpur, 157 for Banda and 57 for Hamirpur which add up to 440 tankers, so that there was no scarcity of drinking water for the people of the region,” the official said.
Besides, 2560 'India Mark-II' handpumps would be installed in seven districts of Bundelkhand at a cost of Rs 18.42 crores. Of these 400 handpumps would be given to Jhansi, 500 to Jalaun, 600 to lalitpur, 160 to Banda, 200 to Mahoba, 200 to Hamirpur and 500 to Chitrakoot district. The Panchayati Raj department has contributed a sum of Rs 2 crores for the installation of these hand pumps.
The official said that government has sanctioned Rs 867.87 crore for the farmers where rainfall is scanty. Besides, another Rs 11.25 crore has been sanctioned for farmers who lost their crop in blaze.
Agra gets Rs 568 lakh, Ambedkar Nagar 2574 lakh, Balrampur 591 lakh, Banda 4843.33 lakh, Chitrakoot Rs 2529 lakh, Deoria 12034 lakh. Fatehpur 1236 lakh, Gorakhpur 10158 lakh, Hamirpur 375.41, Jhansi 3255.42, Mahoba440.68 lakh, lalitpur 10329.48 lakh and Sonebhadra 4120 lakh.
The Opposition parties have been attacking the Samajwadi Party government for its apathy towards the plight of Bundelkhand people.
BJP spokesman Vijay Bahadur Pathak said that the CM was using this situation for political gains. He has coined a name even for the food packets to be distributed among drought-hit people to reap political harvest. “These packets carry the picture of Akhilesh Yadav and this is a mockery os relief works,” he said.
Congress spokesman Amarnath Agarwal said that the SP government has no policy towards extending help to the people of this region. “In fact, this government is least interested in extending help to the farmers,” he alleged.