Vidarbha MPs float common forum

By Mahesh Vijapurkar

MUMBAI, JULY 26.All political parties - the Congress, the NCP, the BJP, the Shiv Sena - and Independents from the Vidarbha region have formed a forum to discuss and strategise methods for securing maximum benefit to neutralise backlog in the region, mounting amid frequent demand for a statehood.

Flagging off the forum on Wednesday, which would keep away from politicking or raising the demand for a Vidarbha state, the MLAs and MLCs decided to focus on irrigation and represent their demand to the Chief Minister. They would meet once before and once during the Legislative sessions.

Each time, the focus would be on one priority area and the legislators would perform with the common intent of securing the most by coordinating their approach. This is the first time all the political parties have come together formally to improve the lot of the Vidarbha region which is not only backward but sliding ``because of neglect by the western Maharashtra-dominated leadership in the Government.'' As one legislator said ``often, even if we are in the Cabinet, we are not allowed to secure benefits but watch them flow to western Maharashtra.''

Irrigation is the biggest problem in the region, especially in comparison to other parts of Maharashtra, according to Mr. Ranjit Deshmukh, a former Minister. He told The Hindu that the backlog in the sector was put at Rs. 527.31 crores in 1982 by Dr. V. N. Dandekar panel, and it grew to Rs. 4,083 crores in 1994. Only Rs. 1,494-crore worth of backlog remained as of now. Rest of Maharashtra has had its backlog wiped out.

He cited another example of regional neglect: Rs. 300 crores were owed to contractors who did irrigation project- related work in Vidarbha, but Rs. 60 crores were borrowed from the Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation by western Maharashtra's Krishna Valley Irrigation Development Corporation.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Other States
Previous : No new taxes in budget
Next     : House tax move angers illegal colony residents