Union Rural Development Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had something in common to say at the Nirmal Gram Puraskar function,that Maharashtras contribution to the central exchequer is the highest among states,but is getting little allocation from central government schemes. They also said it is high time that this situation be changed and claimed both of them in their capacities are making efforts towards increasing fund allocation to the state in schemes like NREGA and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (GMGSY). Deshmukh and Chavan were speaking at the Nirmal Gram Puruskar distribution ceremony held at Shri Chhatrapati Shivani Krida Sankul,Balewadi here on Monday. As many as 46 representative sarpanches were felicitated on Monday at the hand of Governor K Sankarnarayan. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar,Minister of Water Supply and Sanitation Prof Laxman Dhobale,Minister of State for Water supply and Sanitation Ranjit Kamble and Minister of State for Home and Rural development Satej Patil were also present. Of the Rs 26,000 crore which was allocated by the central government for PMGSY,Andhra Pradesh got 11,000 crore while Maharashtra got only a few hundred crores. The low allocation for the state is partly because all the villages in the states are shown to have roads in central governments records. But it must be taken into consideration that these roads were built many years ago in minimum budget and are of very low standards. Today there is allocation of 40 to 50 lakhs for each kilometre of road built under the scheme but when these roads were built an entire road was constructed in a few lakhs. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said,Maharashtra is the second biggest state in the country as per population. More than 10 per cent people of the country live here. Its our right that the state should at least have 10 per cent share in the budget allocation for various schemes, said Dehsmukh. He also expressed displeasure over the fact that the state government could only spend 350 crore under NREGA by employing 60-70 thousand people last year. He also said the governments resolve to employ around six lakh people this year. The old roads connecting villages should be revamped so as to meet contemporary standards. I have discussed this issue with Vilasrao Deshumukh and if need be,we will modify the PMGSY Act so that proper allocation for reconstruction of these roads will be done, said Chavan. P Shankarnarayan emphasised on the importance of hygiene and sanitation in development of a progressive healthy society. Maharashtra is land of saints like Gadagebaba who laid the base of such sanitation movements decades ago. Today this Total Sanitation Movement (TSM) has become an integral part of rural development in the state. Ajit Pawar congratulated the villages that won NGP awards but cautioned that these villages should continue the sanitation and cleanliness drive so that if somebody visits these villages after a few years,he should find them as clean as the NGP award committee found when it visited them.
