The Hindu : National : Hitches in implementing job scheme in naxal-hit areas

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 03, 2006

National

National

Hitches in implementing job scheme in naxal-hit areas

Special Correspondent

Law and order is the responsibility of States: Raghuvansh Prasad Singh

NEW DELHI: Union Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh has said that the Government is finding it difficult to implement the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme in naxalite-affected areas.

Talking to reporters here on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said special attention should be given to implementation of this ambitious scheme in the districts affected by the naxalites. He said that since law and order was the responsibility of the State Governments, it was for them to implement the scheme.

Referring to the progress of various rural development schemes being implemented in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Mr. Singh said the worst affected areas were Dantewada and Bastar in Chhattisgarh.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader also criticised the Narendra Modi Government in Gujarat for "fomenting communal tension" in Vadodara by demolishing an old mazar.

Mr. Singh alleged that the Modi Government had intentionally caused the communal clashes in Vadodara, in which five people were killed and over 60 injured.

Mr. Singh said he was not against the demolition of illegal structures but since the mazar was over 200 years old it had not only become legal but also a historical structure.

On the reservation issue, and Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh being pitched against Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, Mr. Singh said difference of opinion was a healthy trend in a thriving democracy.

Social justice

He said the RJD had been a long-time supporter of reservation even during the Mandal Commission report and there was no change of stand. Justifying the reservation for OBCs in educational institutions, he said it would help in providing social justice to the deprived communities.

Giving details of the rural development projects, the Minister said 11 of the 16 districts of Chhattisgarh were covered under the NREG scheme and Rs. 239.66 crore was released by the Centre under the National Food for Work Programme (NFFWP) as against the annual allocation of Rs. 231.81 crore in 2005-06.

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