Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal is not in a mood to spare Indian National Congress allegations of non-utilisation of Central funds against his Govt during the Assembly election campaign.
He has decided to seek a clarification from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and AICC chief Sonia Gandhi on the issue. He stated that the allegations levelled by Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and other Congress leaders during election rallies that about Rs 10,000 crore, which was given to Himachal Pradesh under Centrally sponsored schemes, remained unspent, was far from forgotten. He claimed that the allegations are not true and will write to both so that he can get exact details of the money unspent.
Dhumal said that Congress leaders presented the distorted facts about the funds and was only to mislead for the political mileage. He claimed that the reality of their claims is far from the truth.
While giving the detail of the funds, he said that Himachal Pradesh had spent Rs 16,615 crore during the 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-12) compared to an allocation of Rs 11,400 crore. He said expenditure under the Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme was Rs 236 crore compared to an allocation of Rs 225 crore. He said expenditure under the National Rural Health Mission was Rs 486 crore compared to an allocation of Rs 482 crore.
He further added that the only between 1 and 2 per cent of the amount under the mid-day meal scheme could not be spent due to a decline in the number of students in schools and work in case of the MNREGA had to be stopped due to complaints of corruption. He said that he would like to know from Sonia Gandhi details of various heads under which Rs 10,000 crore remained unspent.
He dared the Central leadership of the Indian National Congress to substantiate its allegations with complete documentary proof.
