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Special fund sought for Delhi’s development

Staff Reporter

Capital deserves to be a model city, says BJP

NEW DELHI: A special fund of Rs.45,000 crore has been demanded in the Union Budget 2008 for the all-round development of Delhi by State BJP president Harsh Vardhan in a letter to Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.

Disclosing the contents of the letter at a press conference here on Wednesday, Dr. Vardhan said while Rs.32,000 crore has been sought for development of the unauthorised colonies at the rate of Rs.20 crore for each, a sum of Rs.7,280 crore has been sought for the 364 villages at the same rate. Further, he said, Delhi needs Rs. 6,000 crore for improving its sewerage system.

Pointing out that the Central Government has given a package of Rs.15,000 crore to the farmers of Vidharbha for saving them from starvation and suicides, a package of over Rs.10,000 crore to Jammu and Kashmir, and Rs.32,000 crore for the development of the North-Eastern States, Dr. Vardhan said Delhi being the Capital of India also deserves the additional funds to make it a model city.

The BJP leader also demanded that the Central Government monitor the special fund on its own so that the funds were properly utilised and do not fall into the hands of the corrupt. He charged that the Delhi Government had misappropriated the funds released by the Centre for cleaning of the Yamuna.

Dr. Vardhan said as in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games in 2010, representatives of various countries would be visiting India and it was essential to make Delhi a “model Capital” before October 2010.

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