Bhopal, Oct 20: Refuting the charges levelled against his government by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh today said these appeared to be the result of BJP's "false propaganda". The Chief Minister, in a letter faxed to Vajpayee said, he was surprised by the allegations he made at a rally since his government's work had not only been accepted but lauded by the Central government itself.

He said that it was wrong to say that Madhya Pradesh had been unable to reduce backwardness as the planing commission had agreed that the state had come out of BIMARU (Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) group of states.

Similarly, it was wrong to claim that nothing was done for women's welfare during the last 10 years, Singh said adding, more than 97 per cent cases of atrocities against women were registered in Madhya Pradesh.

He said that female literacy had gone up by 20 per cent and for this the state was given an award by Centre.

Singh also dismissed Vajpayee's claim that infant mortality rate was high in Madhya Pradesh, saying there was no truth in it as according to national agencies IMR in the state had come down from 106 in 1993 to 86 in 2001.

Addressing a rally to kickstart BJP's election campaign for December 1 Madhya Pradesh polls yesterday, Vajpayee had criticised the state government for its tardy progress in all sectors and berated the chief minister for failing to lift the state from BIMARU status.
Bureau Report