Yogi Adityanath's Rs 47 crore aid for parched Bundelkhand
A government spokesperson said that the chief minister was likely to visit the Bundelkhand region later this month.
Lucknow: UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has approved a Rs 47 crore-package to ensure immediate availability of drinking water in the parched Bundelkhand region. The chief minister said that if needed, the state government would also make available additional funds for the region to ensure that there is no drinking water problem for the people and the cattle in Bundelkhand region.
A government spokesperson said that the chief minister was likely to visit the Bundelkhand region later this month to see the ground realities and interact with the people.
The chief minister said at a review meeting that Bundelkhand had been continuously ignored by the governments in the last 15 years and no steps had been taken to ensure the development of the region. He said he was aware of the hardships faced by the people of the region. The chief minister also decided that the National Rural Livelihood Mission will be intensified and would be extended to all the blocks for alternative sources of income, construction of water tanks and building of dug wells and farm ponds on a priority basis under various projects and schemes for Bundelkhand. The state government now plans to initiate development of the Bundelkhand region in a planned manner.
“The development of Bundelkhand will be all-inclusive and the chief minister has directed the concerned officials to prepare a blue print for the same,” the spokesperson said.
It is noteworthy that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, during his election campaign, repeatedly spoke about the apathy of the state governments towards the Bundelkhand region which has bene battling drought conditions since the past two years. He said that the Bundelkhand region needed special attention since it had different needs.
Mr Gandhi also had alleged that the Congress-led UPA government had given a special package to the area, but the state government in Uttar Pradesh did not lend support to improve the situation in the region.
In April last year, the centre had said that farmers in Bundelkhand will get Rs 1,304 crore for drought relief under National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). The mandate under the MGNREGA was increased from 100 to 150 as a review was undertaken by the Prime Minister’s Office of the situation in the region.