Chief Minister Raman Singh on Thursday said that the Food Security Bill could not be tabled in the parliament due to delays by the UPA Government in taking resignation from its two Ministers.
‘Chhattisgarh not only became the first in the country to formulate a ‘Food Security law’ , 75 per cent of the population also started getting benefitted from it,’ Singh said while talking to media persons during the third phase of his Vikas Yatra here.
He said that the Food Security Bill could have been tabled in the parliament during the extended budget session if there was no delay in taking resignations from Ministers Pavan Bansal and Ashwini Kumar.
When asked about BJP’s poll prospects in Mahasamund during 2013 considering the fact that four seats in the constituency are with the Congress, Singh said, ‘There is lot of enthusiasm among the people here. However I leave the responsibility of the analysis of this with the media.’
To another query on the financial health of the State, he replied,‘ It is strong and there was not a single day when the State Government had to take an overdraft.’ The State would be in surplus situation with Rs200 crore to Rs600 crore in the April-August period of the current financial year, Singh added.
He said that the State Government is not only ensuring food security from its budget but also distributing Rs1,926 crore as bonus to the farmers. “There is no financial crisis in Chhattisgarh.”
The Chief Minister said that a number of significant works had been completed in Mahasamund district. ‘There is a 220 MW power sub station commissioned at Paraswani, approval of Rs25 crore for the ‘Water Augmentation Project,’ Anicut constructed at a cost of Rs78 crore in Sirpur besides there are now 30,000 irrigation pumps in Mahasamund district from the earlier count of 2000.