New Delhi: Congress is sending a team to
Madhya Pradesh to look into alleged irregularities in the
implementation of Rahul Gandhi's ambitious project for the
development of Bundelkhand.
MLAs of the party in the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh had met
Rahul last week and complained of irregularities in the
implementation of the special package for Bundelkhand.
AICC General Secretary in-charge of Madhya Pradesh B K
Hariprasad and PCC President Suresh Pachauri would visit the
Bundelkahand areas falling in MP to assess the ground
realities.
They would submit their report to party President Sonia
Gandhi and also Rahul Gandhi whose efforts saw the government
declaring a package for the backward area falling in two
states -- Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
In their meeting with Rahul, MLAs from the area
complained that the money was not being used for the purpose
it was meant. They wanted strict monitoring of the projects
and accused the BJP-ruled state government of committing
irregularities.
"We have reports of misuse of the funds...We will find
it out," a senior party leader said. He said the extent of
"misuse" will be known only after a visit to the region.
On November 20 last year, the Union Cabinet had approved
a special package of Rs 7,266 crore for drought relief and
integrated development of the Bundelkhand region.
The scheme is to be implemented over three years in seven
districts of UP and six districts of Madhya Pradesh and aims
to bring seven lakh hectares of land in UP and four lakh
hectares in MP under watershed development measures.
In the package, an additional 60,000 hectares of forest
areas in UP and two lakh hectares of forest areas in MP will
be taken up for integrated conservation and management of
rainfall, soil, and biomass in the natural sequence of
watershed treatment.
Moreover, around 20,000 new wells in each state will
be dug and 30,000 farm ponds constructed to store rain-water
for providing irrigation as part of the package.
The package came after Rahul Gandhi met Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh along with the leaders of both the states and
emphasises on the need for it.
Party sources said that the complaints pertain to the
muster rolls on MGNAREGA, digging of wells and also the
expenditure on forest related projects.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010, 22:01