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Aiyar regrets delay in funds allocation

New Delhi: Criticising the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission, Union Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar on Friday said they were delaying funding for e-governance initiatives aimed at benefiting common people.

The Panchayati Raj Minister said thousands of crores of rupees were being spent on “10-day” Commonwealth Games for “some international reputation,” while an “utterly huge time” was being taken for sanctioning Rs 6,000 crore for e-governance projects of his ministry.

He also targeted the bureaucracy for “writing margin notes on files in such English which they only can understand” and accused them of blocking e-governance initiatives to prevent children of common people competing with their wards.

Addressing a seminar, ‘Serving the Common Man Through e-governance,’ Mr. Aiyar said his Ministry had sought Rs 6,000 crore for e-governance initiatives to connect each bloc and zilla parishads and subsequently the State and Central governments. Recently divested of the Sports portfolio, Mr. Aiyar said that he did not know whether the amount had been sanctioned or not by the Finance Ministry or the Planning Commission. — PTI

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