Old schemes being ignored in MP: oppn

Bhopal, Mar 13 (UNI) The opposition today alleged in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government was shifting focus vis-a-vis implementation of various social sector schemes by according priority to new schemes only.

Participating in the general debate on the 2007-08 Budget, Janata Dal (United) MLA Saroj Bachchan Nayak said with the change of chief ministers, the implementation of various welfare schemes suffered a setback. ''There should be an institutional mechanism for implementing schemes,'' she said.

Ms Nayak said several ongoing schemes were not being properly implemented as preference was given to fresh ones, initiated with change of chief ministers.

Pointing out ambiguities in the 'Gaon Ki Beti' scheme, she said several girls, who were forced to seek higher education in towns distant from their villages, were deprived of the incentives provided to meritorious students from rural areas. Many deserving students were also deprived of admission in Schools of Excellence as there was only one such institution in each block.

Lamenting the raising of tax on 'kirana' goods, she said the poor were being burdened with fresh levies.

Earlier resuming the debate, Dr Govind Singh (Congress) demanded regularisation of part-time employees, including peons, or bringing them under higher payscales. ''The BJP regime, now in its fourth year, had not fulfilled 80 per cent of poll promises, while the erstwhile Digvijay Singh government fulfilled about 95 per cent promises by the third year itself,'' he claimed.

Mr Vanshmani Prasad Verma, the (Samajwadi Party), expressed concern over the soaring crime-graph by alleging that atrocities on weaker sections increased during the BJP rule, causing insecurity for the common man. Several ruling party members were involved in cattle-theft in Sidhi district, he said.

Mr Pradeep Jaiswal (Congress) said the budget was urban-oriented with lesser allocation for rural development. Despite receiving liberal assistance from the Centre, the BJP regime was not acknowledging it.

The government had not displayed pictures of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in government offices, while photographs of former Premier Atal Bihari Vajpayee still adorned the offices, he pointed out.

Mr Rajnarayan Singh (Congress) said the BJP government displayed an attitude against the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and farmers.

UNI