Vidarbha MLAs seek deadline on development, serve memo on CM
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, DEC 6: Seventeen Congress legislators from Vidarbha have sought an assurance from Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh that the regional imbalance will be set right within a definite time frame.

Pointing out that though the region's developmental backlog has crossed a whopping Rs 14,000 crore mark, the legislators are peeved that no steps have been taken to redress the imbalance.

``In this cyber age, the desire for development has reached even the remotest parts of the region. Inaction will be instantly rewarded with anger and rejection. No amount of whitewashing will be of any use. Therefore it is incumbent on your part to spell out the intentions of the government,'' the legislators led by Satish Chaturvedi and Nitin Raut stated in their memorandum submitted to Deshmukh on Monday.

The memorandum alleged that though the erstwhile Sena-BJP government set up regional irrigation development corporations, the entire funds were diverted to the Krishna Valley Development Corporation (KVDC). ``No doubt nofunds were earmarked for the Vidarbha region. But even the new government headed by you has done the same by announcing additional allocation of Rs 1,000 crore from the state cooperative bank and another Rs 1,000 crore from non-resident Indians,'' it further said.

Secondly, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has focussed its activities in and around Mumbai while Vidarbha has been completely ignored.

Also, all the plans for industrial development with foreign assistance were also confined to Mumbai and Western Maharashtra.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.