Team News Riveting
Raipur, July 11
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai Thursday sought special grants for the development of backward areas in the state; a portion affected by the Left-Wing extremism.
The demand was raised at the meeting with the 16th Finance Commission that was on a visit to Chhattisgarh. The Chief Minister said that Chhattisgarh is a new state, which is tribal-dominated, surrounded by difficult geographical conditions and is affected by Maoism. More financial resources will be required to bring Chhattisgarh at par with developed states.
The meeting was attended by 16th Finance Commission Chairman Dr Arvind Panagariya, Deputy Chief Ministers Arun Saa and Vijay Sharma, Finance Minister O.P. Choudhary, Agriculture Minister Ramvichar Netam, Food Minister Dayaldas Baghel, Water Resources Minister Kedar Kashyap, Industry Minister Lakhanlal Dewangan, Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, Women and Child Development Minister Smt. Laxmi Rajwade, Revenue Minister Tankaram Verma besides Finance Commission members Ajay Narayan Jha, Smt. Annie George Mathew, Dr. Manoj Panda, Dr. Soumyakanti Ghosh, Secretary Shri Ritwik Pandey and team members.
In the meeting, Sai said that development work is being done rapidly in the Maoist affected areas, and effective action is being taken to curb Maoism. Due to difficult geographical conditions in these areas, there is an additional expenditure burden in the infrastructure development works. Under the Niyad Nellanar Scheme, work is being done to ensure basic facilities like education, health, roads, electricity, water in these areas.
The Chief Minister said that if the Central Finance Commission recommended more financial assistance to the state, then certainly public welfare works can be done on a large scale in backward areas. He said that the country is rapidly becoming an economic superpower and Chhattisgarh is also working hard for this. “We will build a developed Chhattisgarh along with a developed India. We expect the Central Finance Commission to provide more financial assistance to implement our vision of Chhattisgarh,” Sai said.
Late talking to reporters, Dr Panagariya said the commission would consider the demands raised by the state.
