Cong legislators invite Manmohan to KBK region

Expressbuzz, Dec 28, 2009
BHUBANESWAR: A delegation of Congress legislators today invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit the KBK region (undivided Kalahandi, Balangir and Koraput districts) to make an on- the-spot assessment of the reasons behind the underdevelopment in the area and the number of suicides committed by the farmers during the last two months.The delegation comprising 12 MLAs was led by leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh. Three memoranda, relating to the multi-crore mining scam, suicides by farmers and under development in KBK region were submitted to the Prime Minister by the MLAs seeking his intervention to set things right.The MLAs alleged that even though flow of funds to the KBK region from the Centre had increased manifold, the desired development was not there.They put the blame on misgovernance and lack of proper implementation of Central schemes by the State Government. They maintained that the Centre has so far provided Rs 5,000 crore for the development of the region.The delegation requested the Prime Minister to make an arrangement for a regular monitoring of the schemes in the region. The MLAs invited Singh for a visit to the area and review the implementation of the scheme. The Prime Minister gave a patient hearing to the MLAs for 24 minutes and promised to visit the KBK region.Referring to the large number of suicides by farmers during the last two months, the MLAs blamed the State Government for not taking any step for creating confidence among them. Compensation announced by the State Government for the affected farmers is yet to reach them, they added.The delegation reiterated the party’s demand for a CBI probe into the multi-crore mining scam as several top politicians from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are involved. They alleged that the Vigilance probe ordered by the State Government was meant to protect the real culprits.Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik received the Prime Minister at the airport. The vehicle of Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Jena was, however, not allowed into the security zone of the airport. Even though he raised a protest, the security authorities allowed him to walk down to the stipulated area meant for MPs and MLAs to receive the Prime Minister.Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh and several party MLAs also received the Prime Minister.