Friday, Mar 12, 2004
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By Our Special Correspondent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MARCH 11. The Union Minister of State for Defence, O. Rajagopal, has refuted the Chief Minister, A.K. Antony's statement that he had done little to get sufficient drought relief and projects for the State from the Centre. Addressing a press conference here today, the Minister said that as the Vajpayee Government was a caretaker one working as per the code of conduct for the elections, it could not grant anything beyond what the official team that assessed the drought situation had recommended. If the Centre allocated funds to States using its discretion, disregarding norms, the Election Commission was not going to allow that. As per the norms, loss of power generation from hydel projects could not be compensated from the Natural Calamity Contingency Fund. "The allegation that the Centre discriminated against the State for political reasons is politically motivated." Mr. Rajagopal said the losses indicated by the State appeared to be summary estimates. He did not know the details of the State's memorandum, as he was not invited to any discussions in this regard by the Central or State Governments, as he was not a Member of Parliament from Kerala. He could be a good ambassador for Kerala only if he represented the State. He had, however, talked to the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, about the drought in the State and the need for assistance. He said the State was yet to provide utilisation certificates for Rs. 50 crores allocated by the Centre. As to drinking water supply, the Centre had allocated Rs. 40 crores for projects in Kasaragod and Kollam districts. The three-year term of the scheme was ending this month. However, even half of the money had not been spent so far owing to bureaucratic wrangling. Considering this, the Centre was directly funding local self-governments now. He demanded that the State Government publish a white paper on how much money the Centre had granted to the State for drinking water schemes during the past 10 years and how much had been spent. He said that no new projects for State could be budgeted this year, as the Union Budget was an interim one. The establishment of All India Institutes of Medical Sciences was a project announced earlier, and six States were selected for the Institutes on the basis of backwardness. Kerala was ahead in healthcare and hence did not qualify. As to the demand for a convention centre, this and other facilities could be set up under the habitat project sanctioned to Kerala when he was in charge of urban affairs. He denied that there was any violation of election code in the use of aircraft for the Bharat Uday Yatra. Mr. Advani's programmes in Thiruvananthapuram had gone well, though people faced some difficulties in reaching the venue of the meeting owing to security arrangements.
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