A day after the death of dalit youth in Banda reportedly due to starvation, the state government has expedited the process of the release of the funds for the drought relief programe to various districts. Out of the provision of Rs 867 crore in current fiscals’ budget 2016-17, only Rs 52 crore have been released to the districts.
The chief secretary Alok Ranjan reviewing the progress of the drought relief programmes through video conferencing here on Wednesday expressed concern at the tardy pace of the funds for the drought affected districts. He directed the officials that the remaining funds for the drought relief be distributed among the farmers in the next 10 days.
He directed UP Jal Nigam organize camps in drought affected districts for installation of hand pumps and re-boring and defective tube-wells and hand-pumps be repaired. He appreciated the fast pace of distribution of Samajwadi relief material in Jhansi district of Bundelkhand, and said that other officials should also ensure that the benefits of various government schemes reaches the targeted beneficiaries.
He directed the District Magistrate Banda to ensure that at least one pond was filled with water in every village, so that there is sufficient water for livestock. He also directed the district magistrates of Bundelkhand region to maintain sufficient stock of the fodder for the cattles. He said the districts Magistrates should pay special attention to the increased provision of 150 job days under MNREGA to benefit the eligible candidates. He said that Rs 1 crore had been allocated to each of the seven districts of Bundelkhand for the fodder.
later addressing the half yearly review meeting of the prosecution department chief secretary directed the department to launch a campaign for speedy conviction of criminals in order to maintain peace and law and order. He said that officers of prosecution department deserve commendation for success in conviction of large number of criminals.
To encourage the prosecutions officers who had been instrumental in sentence of 10 years or more to criminals, he said that the name of district, date of decision and detail of sentence should be indicated in the appropriate register so that persons working for prevention of criminal activities get due appreciation and encouragement. He said that the summons, enforcement of warrant etc. should be regularly monitored by senior officials for disposal of pending cases.
The prosecution department had launched campaign for conviction of criminals in July 2015, which has yielded encouraging results.. Director General Prosecution, Dr Surya Kumar said that a total of 23,473 criminals were convicted from July 2015 to April this year due to effective work of prosecution officers. He said that 24 convicts were sentenced to death and 2055 criminals were sentenced to life imprisonment. Criminals numbering 4,295 were sentenced to imprisonment of 10 years or more. More than 1800 convicts were history-sheeters and active criminals.
During the period, bails of 1,01,425 accused were got cancelled and 3,48,827 summons/ warrants were served and enforced. Assets and vehicles related to 89,325 cases were disposed off.