Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, June 11: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who left for New Delhi on a five-day official visit, will raise the issue of drastic reductions in funding of rural development schemes in his meeting with Union rural development minister Chaudhary Birender Singh.
Sources in the state rural development department said Patnaik would seek more funds for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) and rural road projects affected by Cyclone Phailin.
“The Union government had sanctioned projects worth Rs 17,814.24 crore to the state under PMGSY till April 2015. However, the state received only Rs 12,337.83 crore against the sanctioned amount. The remaining `5,476.41 crore is yet to be released by the Central government,” a senior official said.
Besides, as per previous expenditure trends, the state has budgeted an expenditure of Rs 1,800 crore under the programme during this fiscal. However, it was informed by the Centre that it would allocate only Rs 893.01 crore this fiscal, the official said.
Due to the inadequate funding, there has been limited progress of ongoing PMGSY road projects, prompting the state government to demand an increase in Central allocation from Rs 893.01 crore to at least Rs 1,800 crore.
The CM is also likely to raise the issue of Central funding for rural road projects that were affected by Phailin.
The state had submitted proposals for improvement of 2,847 km of rural roads at a cost of Rs 1,344.14 crore and the Union government had agreed to sanction these projects. However, the funds are yet to be released, sources in the state government said.
The state is also demanding release of Rs 300 crore under NRDWP, as the Centre has not released any funds for the scheme this year.
The Centre is also reportedly reluctant to sanction funds under PM Modi’s ambitious Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin). During this fiscal, the state had made a budgetary provision of Rs 679 crore against which the Centre provided only Rs 131 crore. The state is demanding at least Rs 500 crore under the programme this financial year.
“We are committed to ridding the state of open defecation by 2019, but the Centre is not releasing the required amount of funds under the scheme,” an official said.
