Chhattisgarh earmarks Rs 500 cr for new capital

Raipur, Feb 21 (UNI) The Chhattisgarh government has earmarked Rs 500 crore during the current fiscal for setting up a new state capital, Chief Minister Raman Singh said in the Assembly today.

''This amount will be utilised for compensating land acquisition,'' he said while replying to a discussion on the third supplementary demands of more than Rs 962.80 crore.

After the Chief Minister's reply, the House passed the demands and the related appropriation bill that empowered the government to draw the funds.

Referring to the government's request to the Centre to provide funds for establishing the capital near Pauta village about 15 km from Raipur city, the Chief Minister said New Delhi allocated Rs 200 crore. ''The Centre has also agreed to allocate Rs 50 crore every year for the capital project,'' he said, adding that the state government however has earmarked Rs 500 crore at one go for the purpose.

Urging the opposition Congress to cooperate with the state government to impress upon its government at the Centre to clear the pending projects and protect the state's interests, Dr Singh said that a proposal for taking up rural electrification programme in 11 districts was pending at the Centre.

Throwing light on the performance of his government during the past three years, the Chief Minister said the BJP government has provided more than two lakh single-point connections against the 60,000 single-point connections provided during the three-year-long Congress rule.

While only 4,000 shiksha karmis (education workers) were appointed during the previous Congress regime, he said his government recruited more than 38,600 shiksha karmis.

Referring to the opposition's criticism that the government was focussing only on the Rajim Kumbh Mela, the Chief Minister said a plan was being implemented to develop all those places, which are associated with people's faith.

UNI