So Next scam to be #Uttarakhand Rebuilding Scam?! Sonia keeps reins in hand. Reconstruction and rehabilitation plan unveiled by the Uttarakhand government in Dehradun today had been worked out almost entirely by the Centre. A worried Congress leadership had prodded the Union and Uttarakhand governments to draw up a comprehensive plan to send out a message that it won’t be business as usual when it came to rebuilding after the disaster. Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh was sent to Dehradun with a blueprint that contained a roadmap for the future and reduced the scope for ad-hoc decisions, multiplicity of authorities and mismanagement of funds. Centre clearly doesn’t want to leave the gigantic task of reconstruction entirely in CM Vijay Bahuguna’s hands. Ramesh has decided to sanction repair of all the roads to the cut-off villages under the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana, construction of 14,000 homes under the Indira Awas Yojana and additional funds under the rural job guarantee scheme. The Centre will consider a request to relocate 238 villages. Finance minister P. Chidambaram announced in Delhi that funds would not be a problem for the reconstruction plan. Senior Congress leader Ambika Soni has been asked to oversee the distribution of relief. Congress communications chief Ajay Maken has urged political parties to rise above partisan considerations and contribute to the reconstruction efforts instead of engaging in a blame game and mudslinging. His comments came after a Congress-BJP duel on Twitter. Two tweets had raised the temperatures: one by I&B minister Manish Tewari questioning senior BJP leaders’ absence from Uttarakhand; the other by the leader of the Lok Sabha Opposition, Sushma Swaraj, demanding the sack for the allegedly inept Bahuguna government. As the two sides traded charges amid tragedy, Maken regretted the BJP’s demand for the Bahuguna government’s dismissal, saying such a step would lead to political instability in the state at an inopportune moment. Asked about possible lapses and inefficiency, Maken said questions such as “Is there a manmade element” and “Could it (have been) prevented” would be looked into “at the right time”. “We understand (that) ecological sensitivity should not be violated,” he said. “But the need of the hour is to provide relief to the people and ensure that such disasters (do) not happen in future.”
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 04:30:18 +0000
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