Thaindian News

By Prashant Sood
New Delhi, Jan 4 (IANS) Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are slow in implementing the central government’s package for the development of the backward Bundelkhand region that straddles the two states and could lose the money sanctioned for the purpose, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain has said.The two goverments have been “non-coperative” and the funds may lapse if the implementation is further delayed. Both states are ruled by non-Congress parties.

“The performance is slow. The rules say that if 60 percent of the funds released are not spent and accounted for, further money cannot be released. The money will lapse if the speed of work is slow,” Jain told IANS in an interview.

The union cabinet cleared a Rs.7,266 crore special package in November 2009 for drought mitigation and development schemes over a three-year period. The project covered 13 districts of the Bundelkhand region spread over Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in July 2009 after a central team recommended over Rs.8,000 crore development assistance to the region, which has seen a number of farmers’ suicides.

Bundelkhand also found a mention in the 2010-11 budget with the government allocating Rs.1,200 crore as financial assistance for the region.

The minister said that it was due to efforts of Rahul Gandhi that the region received the special development package.

According to Jain, apart from the funds for drought mitigation measures, the central government had also announced several other initiatives for Bundelkhand, including Kendriya Vidyalayas, a central agricultural university, Sainik Schools, a 4,000-MW thermal plant, an AIIMS-like medical instiute at Jhansi and a river-link project.

“The total cost of these projects would be around Rs. 50,000 crore,” Jain said.

Jain, 48, who is a first-time Congress MP from Jhansi, said problems in implementing the development package include corruption, lack of transparency, difficulty in getting land for projects and also the two state governments’ desire to reap political benefits out of it.

The minister pointed out that there have been complaints of irregularities in implementing schemes of the rural development ministry, like the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and the Indira Awas Yojana, particularly in Uttar Prdesh.

Asked about the demand for statehood for Bundelkhand, Jain said that there was a general sentiment in its favour.

Jain, who was ealier a Congress legislator from Jhansi, had moved a resolution in the Uttar Pradesh assembly in 2008 in support of creating a separate state of Bundelkhand.

Asked if the Telangana developments will give a boost to the demand, Jain said the the first priority of the union government was the development of the region, which has a common cultural identity and is rich in minerals.

The Bundelkhand region, covering over 7.08 million hectares, is characterised by undulating terrain and comprises 13 districts, seven of which are in Uttar Pradesh and six in Madhya Pradesh.

(Prashant Sood can be contacted at prashant.s@ians.in)