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Virbhadra demands additional funds

Staff Correspondent

Majority of the expenditure would be on infrastructure development schemes

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Friday presented supplementary demands for Rs. 1047.52 crore in the Vidhan Sabha for 2006-07.

Presenting the final batch of demands for this financial year, he said Rs. 324.93 crore was proposed under the Plan schemes, Rs. 191.30 crore under the Centrally-sponsored schemes, and Rs. 531.29 crore under the non-Plan schemes. The Chief Minister said the majority of the expenditure proposed under the Plan would be on infrastructure development schemes with Rs. 34.54 crore being spent on setting up of schools and colleges, Rs. 30.56 crore on buildings and roads, and Rs 109.43 crore on rural water supply and irrigation schemes.

While Rs. 50.52 crore would be spent on schools, health buildings and roads under the Planning and backward area Sub-Plan, Rs. 6.62 crore has been earmarked as grant-in-aid to Panchayati Raj Institutions, Rs. 7.10 crore as grant-in-aid to urban local bodies and Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Development Authority and Rs 1.70 crore for modernisation of ITIs, he said.

The Chief Minister said Rs. 86.96 crore would be spent on maintaining rural water supply schemes, Rs. 8.13 crore on mid-day meals for schoolchildren, Rs 5.05 crore under the Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Scheme, Rs. 7 crore for modernisation of police force and jails and Rs. 16.09 crore as share capital and loan for the cooperative projects. Under the non-Plan expenditure, the Government has proposed a sum of Rs. 154 crore for Roll Back Power Tariff and Rs. 101 crore for pension payments to retired employees.

Later, replying to a call attention motion, the Chief Minister said jaundice had not taken the form of an epidemic since "only 492 cases have been reported from in and around Shimla town during the last 31 days". Responding to the motion drawing attention to rising cases of jaundice in the town by Mahendra Singh (BJP), he said from January 22 to February 22 this year only 492 cases had been reported from various parts of the town. Since the disease was affecting people in isolated portions of the town, it would be wrong to term it as an epidemic, he said.

He assured that all necessary steps were being taken at the administrative level to ensure that clean drinking water was provided to the people of the town.

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