The UP government has demanded a special financial package for the nature ravaged Bundelkhand region from the Centre. The package has been sought for new irrigation, water management, drinking water projects and construction of roads.
The state has also sought special Central assistance for financing drought relief work in the parched region suffering due to drought for the last several years.
Presenting its case before the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during the pre-budget meeting in Delhi on Saturday, a representative of the UP government maintained that the state government has been making every effort from its meagre resources for helping the distressed people but their woes cannot be mitigated without the financial aid from the Centre. So far the Centre has provided only Rs 325 crore for Bundelkhand which was highly inadequate in view of the requirement of the region, it was contended.
Meanwhile, National Treasurer of SP and Rajya Sabha MP, Chandrapal Yadav said that the UP government will soon announce a package for Bundelkhand. He said that the present NDA government at teh Centre has suspended the Bundelkhand package sanctioned by the previous UPA government.
On the other hand, the BJP slammed the SP government for misutilising funds meant for Bundelkhand and corruption in the execution of projects under the package. State chief lakshmi Kant Bajpai said that Bundelkhand has been reeling under drought for over a decade now and the UP government wasted several hundred crores in construction of agriculture yards where production is almost negligible.
“The mandi yards in Mahoba, Banda, Jalaun etc are a cruel joke with the people and farmers of the region. Their prime need is drinking water, water for irrigating, canals, reservoirs, check dams, tube wells etc. which havbe not been constructed. The interests of the bureaucracy and political leadership lie elsewhere, so they utilised the funds on works where they benefitted most, ignoring the locals,’’ charged Bajpai.
Social activist of Mahoba, Tara Patkar, who runs ‘Roti bank’, said that in Mahoba alone 11 mandi yardas were constructed at the cost of Rs 100 crores which are of no use for local farmers as there is no agriculture for several years due to drought. He said the farmers need water to grow crops and then the Mandi yards come into play. He said these mandi yards are the shining memorial of insensitivity and corruption of the SP government.