Maya wants money for statues, not drought relief

Lucknow, Aug 4: Oblivious to the recent uproar all over the country over the alleged wastage of money for building parks and memorials, Chief Minister Mayawati has reportedly asked for additional Rs 500 crore to establish more memorials of Dalit leaders and herself.

This supplementary demand comes in spite of the Rs 2,000 crore allotted for the same purpose in the 2009-10 state budget. The demand that was put forth in the Vidhana Sabha on Monday, Aug 3 was met with agitation from the Opposition and the Samajwadi party (SP) has called on a CBI inquiry into the alleged wastage of government money.

What is interesting is that the state has kept aside a meagre amount of Rs 6.5 crore for development of the backward Bundelkhand and Purvanchal (east UP) regions while supplementary demands for grants totalling Rs7,559.52 crore is for parks, memorials and statues in the name of Dalit reformers, including BR Ambedkar, BSP founder Kanshi Ram and Mayawati herself.

The demands have been presented by three departments. Housing has asked for Rs527.29 crore while culture and tourism are expecting 26.74 crore and 2.10 crore respectively

Demanding a CBI probe into the wastage of money, SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav , "All this money is going into the pockets of corrupt officials, BSP leaders and their favoured contractors."

Bringing to the notice that the state is suffering from drought and farmer suicides, the Congress leader Pramod Tiwari alleged that all the government can think of is 'parks and statues'.

OneIndia News