Putting a break on the gung-ho politics on granting special status to Jharkhand, Chief Minister Raghubar Das has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s special attention to the State.
Meeting for the first time after assuming office, Das also discussed the financial condition of the State with the Prime Minister on Sunday.The CM in the meeting had reportedly expressed serious concerns over financial crunch which the State is facing. Information coming from the deliberation suggests that Das has underlined the need to hike the Central assistance in the form of grants in order to complete the infrastructure related projects .
“Jharkhand does not need a tag of special status but what we need is the special attention from the Centre. Financial health of the State is bad and we need money for the completion of road, power and transport projects. The Prime Minister has assured us for all the help required,” said the Chief Minister in Delhi after the meeting which has been dubbed as a courtesy call from him to the PM. He also paid a visit to former Prime Minister and BJP’s patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee who is not doing well these days.
Parties such as Jharkhand Vikas Morcha, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and even AJSU Party which is extending support to the BJP-led Government in the State have been harping on the special status label and had staged protests on various occasions. Nevertheless, the BJP has been sticking to the line for greater level of assistance and not merely the tag.
The CM, stressing on its importance, also requested the PM to direct the concerned department to release `400 crore pending under the PMGSY so that work to build rural roads is not hampered. Fund for the scheme has been exhausted in Jharkhand. The CM apprised him that against the request to release `500 crore under the scheme during the financial year 2014-15 only `112 crore has been given so far from Delhi.
The CM also presented a list of six towns to Modi which would be developed as ‘Smart Cities’ under the scheme proposed by him. Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur, Bokaro, Deoghar and Dumka are the places which would figure into the list of 100 such cities to be identified nationally.
“Jharkhand wants to benefit from the visionary scheme. The towns selected for the scheme hold importance in view of administration, industry, religion, tourism and population. All the towns except Dumka fulfill the criteria fixed for the selection of ‘Smart City’ but the Santhal heartland was selected as it happens to be the second capital of the State,” said the CM on the occasion. Request for this purpose has already been sent to the Urban Development Ministry.
The Chief Minister, who is on the two-day trip to Delhi, also met Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani and officers of Jharkhand cadre working with the Centre on deputation basis. He also paid a visit to BJP national president Amit Shah. In the meeting with Shah, the issues related to the Cabinet expansion as well as the JVM’s merger with the BJP were discussed. As per indications talks with the JVM on this issue are in advanced stage and modalities are being chalked out between the two parties.