- Obliges Railway Minister
Mamata Banerjee of Trinamool Congress with Rs 950-crore hike
- New and Renewable Energy Ministry held by Farooq Abdullah (NC) sees 61 per cent increase
- DMK offered of a special grant of Rs 200 crore to the party-led Tamil Nadu government for boosting textile cluster
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New Delhi, February 26
In the union Budget for this year, UPA-II has managed to secure its own political interests as also the interests of its allies.
Among the major announcements made by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, most were meant to please the allies, including Trinamool Congress, DMK and National Conference. The poll-bound states of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, especially its Bundelkhand region, managed Pranab’s special attention. So did the eastern states including Bihar, where Rs 400 crore have been reserved for the extension of green revolution. WB, Bihar and UP will go to polls in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
To start with, the Budget set aside Rs 16,752 crore for the Railways, a ministry held by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, who had been seeking Pranab’s help for her agenda. The FM obliged her right back, saying today: “Members have heard from the railway minister about the large investments required to modernise and expand the network. I have provided Rs 16,752 crore in the Budget this year for railways to lend her a helping hand.” The hike is Rs 950 crore more than the last year.
The New and Renewable Energy Ministry held by NC patron Farooq Abdullah saw a massive 61 per cent hike over the past year - from Rs 620 crore to Rs 1000 crore. Special consideration has also been given to the NC-Congress ruled Jammu and Kashmir in the Budget, with Ladakh receiving a Rs 500 crore grant for solar, small hydro and micro power projects.
The government today also announced a special proposal to induct 2000 Kashmiri youth into the Central Paramilitary Forces, as a confidence building measure, with Pranab saying the CBMs had helped curb violence which declined in the state in 2009.
The DMK was all smiles with the FM’s offering of a special one-time grant of Rs 200 crore to the party-led Tamil Nadu government, for boosting the textile cluster for knitwear in Tirupur. The Textile Ministry is under DMK’s Dayanidhi Maran. “I propose a one time grant of Rs 200 crore to Tamil Nadu government towards the cost of installing a zero liquid discharge system at Tirupur to sustain the industry,” Pranab said in Lok Sabha today.
Now to Bundelhkand in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls in 2012 -- the FM today gave a Rs 1200 crore central assistance for drought mitigation in the region. The issue is being religiously pursued by AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi, under whose leadership the Congress is hoping to recover some lost base in UP. Rahul earlier met the PM to seek relief for Bundelkhand.West Bengal also found special mentions in the FM’s speech, as he said the schemes on bank protection works along river Bhagirathi and Ganga-Padma in parts of Murshidabad (FM’s own constituency) and Nadia districts of West Bengal had been included in the Centrally sponsored flood management
programme.
