Mumbai : Members cutting across party lines in Legislative Assembly on Wednesday stressed the need for the removal of financial and developmental backlog of Vidarbha on the second day of the discussion on the Vijay Kelkar Committee report.
The Leader of Opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil (Congress) said the panel has made some useful recommendations like provision of funds for non-irrigated areas of Marathwada and Vidarbha, and need for launching of a movement to boost production of cotton and rice.
The report on the developmental imbalance between the various regions of the state was tabled in both houses of the state legislature last December.
NCP Group Leader Jayant Patil said one of the recommendations in the report says Chandrapur district in Vidarbha should get electricity at affordable rates and that provision for more funds for backward districts be made.
Patil also denied that funds meant for the removal of financial backlog of Vidarbha and Marathwada were diverted to other regions. BJP’s Chainsukh Sancheti said Vidarbha has always been neglected despite it being a productive and fertile land, while his fellow party man Sudhakar Deshmukh said the region lacks textile mills despite it being a cotton growing region. Shiv Sena MLA Arjun Khotkar termed as ‘conspiracy’ to fix taluka as a unit for the removal of backlog.
