JD(U) MPs demand funds for BPL and Bihar roads

New Delhi, Mar 21 (UNI) A delegation of the Janata Dal (United) MPs from Bihar led by Party President Sharad Yadav today called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of various hurdles before its government in implementing developmental projects in the state.

The delegation drew Prime Minister's attention towards the National Sample Survey (NSS) of India which had directed that the Below Poverty Line (BPL) figure for the state should be pegged at 65 lakhs.

However, a door-to-door survey conducted by the Centre on BPL status in Bihar gave this figure at one crore but still the Centre was not ready to accept the figure and was only accepting the figure of 65 lakhs as suggested by the NSS. As a result, 35 lakh people under the BPL catagory had been deprived of the various Central assistance.

The delegation also pointed out that the 890-km stretch of the National Highway (NH) passing through Bihar was placed under the IIIB catagory, which meant though the Detailed Project Report (DPR) would be prepared by the state, it will not get funds for its construction and maintenance.

They said the particular matter was placed before the Centre and a meeting was held on April 14, 2006 where it was decided to shift the project to IIIA catagory so that the Central funds could be made available for the same and the Ministry concerned was to bring it before the Cabinet for clearence.

''The project has not yet been placed under the IIIA catagory,'' they alleged.

They said though the state government did not have enough funds, still it had sanctioned Rs 306 crores towards the construction of roads in anticipation of the Central funds.

''This only shows that the state government is serious about developmental issues,'' the leaders said.

The other members of the delegation includes Prabhunath Singh, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Mahendra Sahani, Kailash Baitha and Ajit Kumar Singh.

UNI