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No starvation death in Bundelkhand: CM

JHANSI : With the drought-hit Bundelkhand emerging as a political battlefield for the Congress and Mayawati, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister virtually opened the floodgates of development schemes for this backward region of the State on Tuesday.

Reinforcing her oft-repeated claim that the Bahujan Samaj Party Government led by her is the real benefactor of the people of the region, the Chief Minister stated that development of Bundelkhand had been ignored over the years by the governments led by the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Addressing a huge Bundelkhand Vikas Haqeeqat Maharally here on Tuesday, Ms. Mayawati rejected the charges of the Opposition parties, particularly the Congress, that Bundelkhand’s condition had deteriorated during BSP rule. She denied that starvation deaths had occurred under the BSP regime.

Ms. Mayawati said notwithstanding non-cooperation by the UPA Government at the Centre and getting no financial assistance from it, the BSP Government had taken several measures to mitigate the sufferings of the drought-affected people of the seven Bundelkhand districts. And, she added, many more were in the offing.

Among the new measures announced by the Chief Minister at Tuesday’s rally were interest waiver on loans of Rs 50,000 and less.

Provision of Rs 300 crore will be made in the new Budget; job-oriented training for one member from each Below Poverty Line household in the seven Bundelkhand districts; old-age, widow and handicapped persons’ pension to be extended to all the beneficiaries with a budgetary provision of Rs. 20 crore; financial grant for marriage raised from Rs.10,000 to Rs.20,000 for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes families.

Budgetary provision of Rs.10 crore proposed; hand pumps to be installed in all the villages, and old ones to be re-bored for overcoming the drinking water crisis during summer.

Besides, immediate power connections to be given to private tube-well owners. Rs.30 crore to be included in the next Budget under this head.

The other measures announced were daily power supply for 20 hours; sprinkler and drip irrigation techniques to be introduced mainly for small and marginal farmers of Bundelkhand; horticulture scheme to be launched in irrigation water scarcity areas; proposed budget of Rs.400 crore for giving 75 per cent grant to SC/ST dominated areas and

Rs.40-crore budget for boring new tube-wells.

Ms. Mayawati’s other announcements included establishment of five polytechnics, nine industrial training institutes, an agriculture university to be built at a cost of Rs.100 crore.

Before addressing the rally, the Chief Minister laid the foundation stone for a Rs.184-crore Kanshi Ram paramedical training institute in Jhansi and a Rs.350-crore Bhimrao Ambedkar Medical College in Banda district.

The Chief Minister said now when the Congress and other Opposition leaders come to review the situation, the people of Bundelkhand should seek a reply on the steps taken by them during their 57 years of rule in U.P.

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