Nitish government failed to utilise central funds: Lalu
Rajgir, July 15: Taking potshot at Nitish government, RJD chief and Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today said that NDA government has failed to utilise funds released by the Centre for improving the state's infrastructural facilities.Addressing party workers on the concluding day of the two-day training camp, Mr Prasad said that the Centre had released sufficient funds for construction of vast stretch of new roads and for repairing the damaged roads in Bihar but nothing concrete had been done so far by the state government.
''Most of the roads were in pathetic condition, while the huge funds released against this head were lying unspent,'' he lamented.
''The UPA government had proposed to the state government that roads should be constructed by the central agencies against the funds released by the Centre but it was unfortunate that Nitish government was insisting on getting such roads constructed by the state agencies,'' Mr Prasad said adding that it was ironical that NDA government was adamant on pushing forward its own condition for construction of roads from the Central funds.
''The union government has virtually opened its coffer for execution of various development and welfare schemes in Bihar and the Nitish government should grab this golden opportunity, otherwise it would be a impossible to usher in an era of development in Bihar, during the days ahead,'' he cautioned.
''All the 38 districts in Bihar had been covered under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme sopnsored by the Centre but the exodus of labourers from the state in search of livelihood was still on without any sign of decline,'' Mr Prasad said adding provision of 100 days of assured employment had been guaranteed under the scheme but the "lackadaisical" approach of the Nitish government in this regard has made the lives of unskilled labourers "hellish" in the state.
UNI