State includes Centre grants in 22k cr package

  • | Saturday | 21st July, 2018

Nagpur: Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced a Rs22,000 crore package for backward areas of the state, including Vidarbha. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will start new resorts at Nawegaon-Khairi dam (district Nagpur), Nawegaon dam (district Gondia), Bor dam (district Wardha), Sindkhed Raja, Kaundinyapur (district Amravati) etc. The second is Rs2,500 crore for providing subsidy in power tariff to industries of Vidarbha, Marathwada and other backward areas of the state. This amount includes the Rs13,400 crore sanctioned by the central government for irrigation projects in Vidarbha and Marathwada. Leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil termed the package as an eyewash as it included central grants.The biggest component of the package is central aid for irrigation projects.

Nagpur: Finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar announced a Rs22,000 crore package for backward areas of the state, including Vidarbha. This amount includes the Rs13,400 crore sanctioned by the central government for irrigation projects in Vidarbha and Marathwada. The state government does not have the remaining Rs8,600 crore too, and will seek it from the GST Council.The package was announced in reply to last week’s resolution moved by the opposition in state assembly on problems of Vidarbha and Marathwada. Leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil termed the package as an eyewash as it included central grants.The biggest component of the package is central aid for irrigation projects. The second is Rs2,500 crore for providing subsidy in power tariff to industries of Vidarbha, Marathwada and other backward areas of the state. Another important component is Rs1,860 crore for energization of farm pumps in backward areas. Both are continuation of old schemes of the BJP-Shiv Sena government.The other important heads are: water conservation Rs500 crore, drip irrigation Rs100 crore, employment generation and skill development Rs400 crore, tourism development Rs300 crore, agricultural produce marketing Rs125 crore, and upgrade of agricultural universities of Vidarbha and Marathwada Rs100 crore.The package mostly concentrates on rural areas, and has some innovative ideas for their development. It includes providing solar charkhas and handlooms to farmers in Nagpur and Wardha districts, helping women start agro industries in Chandrapur district, agricultural information centres in Vidarbha as envisaged by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), collective animal husbandry in Marathwada, collective irrigation in Wardha and Gadchiroli districts, launching Gondwana brand of milk in Gadchiroli district, and providing mini-ATMs to self help groups in Gondia and Gadchiroli districts etc.The government aims to bring back past glory in some cases. Bhandara was once famous for manufacture of bronze utensils, but the industry died out gradually. There is a proposal to revive it.New institutions will be set up to modernize agriculture. Two sex sorted semen generation centres for animal husbandry will be started in Nagpur and Aurangabad. Cattle breed improvement centres will be started at Washim and Karanja. A new agriculture college under Dr Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV) will be started at Mul (district Chandrapur).Several small projects will be undertaken to promote tourism. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) will start new resorts at Nawegaon-Khairi dam (district Nagpur), Nawegaon dam (district Gondia), Bor dam (district Wardha), Sindkhed Raja, Kaundinyapur (district Amravati) etc. A biodiversity park will also be started at Narnala in Melghat area. Ecotourism project will be started at Malkapur.Taking cognisance of pesticide deaths in Yavatmal district, the government will start a toxicology centre in Yavatmal Government Medical College. Culture has not been left untouched and theatres will be constructed in Latur, Parbhani, Wardha and Akola.Deputy leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar said the government should have allocated Rs5,000 crore every year for removing irrigation backlog, and Rs4,000 crore for roads backlog every year. “Vidarbha citizens didn’t get anything from this session. All announcements are a mere eyewash,” he said.Saoner MLA Sunil Kedar said that despite the session being held in Nagpur, none of the city’s problems like roads, schools, SNDL, failure of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) etc came up for discussions.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Nagpur headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles