Only Rs1,958 crore of Rs3,703 spend on Ganga clean-up

IANS 02 August 2016

Public Interest

It is not just the opposition which is out to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi's emotive connect with the river Ganga. Statistics show that very little has been done in the past two years -- in spite of spending Rs 1,958 crore of the Rs 3,703 crore allocated -- to improve the condition of the holy river.

The response to a Right to Information (RTI) poser by an Aishwarya Sharma, a Class 10 student from the city, to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has revealed that the much-hyped 'Namami Gange' programme is largely on paper, much like the previous schemes declared in the past 30 years.

In her RTI question on May 9, the 14-year-old Lucknow girl has sought answers to seven queries, which included details of the number of meetings the Prime Minister chaired on the sensitive issue, budgetary provisions and the expenses so far.

Subroto Hazra, the central public information officer with the PMO, had forwarded the query to the union Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Ministry for a response.

K.K. Sapra of the ministry responded on July 4 and the answers explicitly show that Modi's 'Ganga Maiya ne bullaya hai' (Mother Ganga has summoned me) credo, which endeared Modi to the masses, specially in Varanasi, was little beyond an attempt to milk sentiments and votes.

The ministry said Rs2,137 crore was allocated for the national mission of Ganga cleaning in 2014-15. This was cut by Rs84 crore to Rs 2,053 crore. But the union government, despite the hype, spent only Rs326 crore, leaving more than Rs1,700 crore unspent.

The situation did not change much in 2015-16 either and, in fact, the union government slashed the budgetary allocation from the proposed Rs2,750 crore to Rs1,650 crore. Of the amended budget, Rs18 crore was unspent in 2015-16.

"This is completely baffling, keeping in mind the high-decibel campaign by Prime Minister Modi himself on cleaning the Ganga," an upset Aishwarya told IANS.

For the current 2016-17 fiscal, the student said the union government does not have any details of the expenses so far of the Rs 2,500 crore allocated.

Aishwarya also sought to know from "Modi uncle" why he has not been serious on the crucial project as is evident by the fact that of the three meetings of the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), the Prime Minister chaired only one on March 26, 2015. The other two meetings -- on October 27, 2014 and July 4, 2016 -- were chaired by Union Minister Uma Bharati.

In contrast, Modi's predecessor Manmohan Singh had chaired all the three meetings of the NGRBA held in his second tenure -- on October 5, 2009, November 1, 2010 and April 17, 2012.

"I can just hope that Modi uncle delivers on this front as we all have high expectations from him," Aishwarya said.

Now, only time will tell whether the Modi government, which has promised to spend Rs20,000 crore over the next five years on Ganga rejuvenation and cleaning, delivers on its promise.

Disclaimer: Information, facts or opinions expressed in this news article are presented as sourced from IANS and do not reflect views of Moneylife and hence Moneylife is not responsible or liable for the same. As a source and news provider, IANS is responsible for accuracy, completeness, suitability and validity of any information in this article.

Comments

User

I C Gupta

1 decade ago

It not Rs 1958 crores but Rs 2958 crores spent without any results

Suketu Shah

1 decade ago

I expect PMOffice to give a big kick to the minster in question...Dreging shd move up in a few months.

Ayush Sharma

1 decade ago

Do i call it a "Ganga Ji Scam"

Ajay Agarwal

1 decade ago

I am from varanasi the picture use by author is not from varanasi dnt make us fool...Author is pure aapiya.

Amit Jain

1 decade ago

The author has done well not to hide his anti-Modi feelings. Disappointed to read such trash on Moneylife. Zilch understanding of how the Govt. functions. The headline itself is a lie not supported by the text below.

Ajay Agarwal

Replied to Amit Jain comment 1 decade ago

The picture showing in news is not from varanasi.

Suketu Shah

1 decade ago

We have FM who talks now of govt being involved in minimal activities.What has he done about disivestment.Time to seriously walk the talk first Arun

Gupta

1 decade ago

While funding and spending is understood, nothing in this article justifies the conclusion made in the headline "without visible results". Moreover it accuses the government of spending so much while also criticizing it for not using all the allocated funds! Wonder if this is typical hype that journalists like to create out of nothing or simply an absurd desperation to create news out of a 14 year old's RTI