Bhopal, June 08: The Madhya Pradesh government has described as "baseless and unfortunate", the comments by Union Minister of State for Rural Development Anna Sahib M K Patil about the state's performance in rural development. In a letter to the Union Minister, the State Minister for Rural Development Ajay Singh said it is "irresponsible" to make assessment of Madhya Pradesh in rural development sector on the basis of "incorrect data", an official release said here today.

"Patil did not provide the factual details furnished by the state government about implementation of rural development schemes to the press, he said, adding the state has been giving outstanding performance in rural development sector and utilising the available funds despite the Centre's procedural delays in releasing funds and scrutiny of state's proposals.

The Centre should streamline the process of releasing funds at the earliest, he demanded.

Apprising Patil of the factual situation, Singh said that the Government of India released an amount of Rs 465.49 crore under SGSY, SGRY, Indira Awas Yojana, Employment Assurance Scheme (watershed), Drought Prone Area Committee (DPAP) and Integrated Wasteland Development Programme (IWDP) during 2003.

The state government released its matching share of Rs 149.77 crore, he said.

Bureau Report