Ms. Mayawati had discussed state’s development at a meeting with all the MPs held at her official residence on July 20, in which she had directed all the MPs to meet the PM and other Union Ministers, so that projects pending at the Centre for approval could be cleared at the earliest. They had done the same thing during the previous session as well. She said that even though these projects had not been cleared so far despite that meeting. Yet, the MPs should meet the Prime Minister and request him to give Centre’s approval for TIA, allocation of six coal blocks and sanctioning of Rs. 80,000 crore special economic package for the rapid development of the State.

The delegation apprised the PM that TIA’s approval from GOI had been pending about last 07 years. The technical approval had been accorded by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, GOI on 09 April 2009 to establish an International Airport near Jewar at a distance of 72 kms. from IGI Airport.

The delegation further apprised the PM that only one condition was imposed while taking approval of Central Government’s Cabinet that in case of establishing another International Airport within radius of 150 kms., ‘Right of First Refusal’ (ROFR) and 10 per cent Price Preference shall have to be given to Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL), the promoter of IGI Airport. Same provision was also made by the GOI, while entering into the State Support Agreement (SSA) with DIAL.

Government of UP has already consented on this condition in May 2007. While according sanction on TIA by the Central Cabinet, Government of UP was also asked to participate in the SPV to be made for the development of TIA. The State Government made it clear that Yamuna Expressway Authority shall be the nodal agency for TIA project and will also represent the State Government and participate in the said SPV. The delegation apprised PM that the Government of UP has
already complied in the year 2007 with the conditions imposed by the GOI for sanctioning of International Airport. Therefore, sanction for Taj International Airport be accorded by GOI without any delay. The delegation pointed out that the Air traffic of Delhi Airport can no longer be handled by IGI Airport only, so it had become imperative that another International Airport at Jewar near Greater Noida be sanctioned immediately for Delhi. Only after sanction of the TIA, the air traffic congestion of Delhi can be reduced by the 2015-16. The delegation apprised PM that during the last three years growth of air traffic has been far more than it was estimated, and any person using IGI Airport had to face the traffic congestion of Delhi Airport. A study report of traffic projection was sent to GOI by Government of UP in the year 2007, according to which air traffic of IGI Airport was estimated to be more than 100 million by the year 2016. Same is the traffic projection of Airport Authority of India. Expert study says that on development of Taj International Airport, the air traffic of NCR shall be 161 million by the year 2021, in which the share of Delhi Airport will be 136 million, which was far more than the designed capacity of 100 million fixed for DIAL. Air traffic of TIA is projected to be 25 million by the year 2021.

The PM was apprised by the delegation that it was unnecessary to talk about trigger point or traffic-study for establishing TIA. There was no such mention of any trigger point or traffic-study while giving initial technical clearance to the Government of UP in 2003. Attorney General of GOI has specifically opined that DIAL’s bid condition/agreement does not create any legal impediment in sanctioning of International airport at Greater NOIDA. ‘Post-Bid-Benefit’ should not be passed on to DIAL. Otherwise also, a big post-bid-benefit has already been given to DIAL, in terms of ‘Airport Development Tax’. Now, even raising the issue of ‘Trigger’ is the same as passing on post-bid-benefit to DIAL. The delegation apprised PM that the delay in sanction of TIA is, on one hand, unnecessary delaying mitigation of traffic congestion and, on the other hand, overlooking the interest of UP by impeding the efforts of the State Government to rapidly develop the infrastructure facilities.

The delegation apprised PM that all the major cities in the world such as New York, Washington, London, etc. had more than one airport. These cities had concept of satellite airport to avoid traffic congestion. TIA would be a second such airport for NCR. This airport would be important for cargo in view of its location within the proposed Delhi Mumbai Industrial Investment Corridor and Delhi-Mumbai Freight Corridor. This would provide multi modal connectivity facility which would not only contribute to the all-round development of the State but also of the country. The delegation apprised PM that upon the repeated request of GOI, the project consultants appointed by the State Government were asked to prepare a supplementary TEFR in association with DIAL. Here it is to be pointed out that DIAL being an interested party, its association in the activity would involve a conflict of interest. The Government of UP provided the supplementary TEFR to GOI vide letter dated 16 June 2010. According to the report, the revised traffic assessment makes only marginal changes in the immediate future where the projected traffic would be lower than that presented in the earlier report submitted in January 2008. The traffic scenario in the long term perspective does not show any appreciable change.

The delegation apprised PM that to quote the figures, the passenger traffic at Delhi with TIA in the year 2021 would be 155 million, in which the fraction of DIAL’s traffic would be 127 million which would be again much more than the designed maximum capacity of 100 million. In the year 2016 and 2021, the TIA traffic is projected to be 11 million and 28 million respectively. Thus, both airports were expected to grow on the basis of their own markets. The Taj Airport traffic would increase essentially due to additional traffic on account of transit traffic, higher economic development in its vicinity and major activities in the catchment area. Therefore, there would be enough traffic for Taj International Airport from 2016 and there would be no adverse effect on
the traffic of IGI International Airport.

The delegation apprised PM that it was worth mentioning that GOI has accorded approvals within a radius of 150 kms. of existing airports namely Mopa airport which is 65 kms. away from Goa Airport; Kannur Airport which is 80 kms. away from Callicut Airport and125 kms. from Mangalore Airport and a Cargo Airport (Virat Nagar) which is 63 Kms. away from Jaipur Airport. In addition to this, Navi-Mumbai Airport, which is 35 kms. away from Mumbai Airport has also been accorded approval. The case of Mumbai Airport and Navi-Mumbai Airport and Delhi Airport and International Airport at Jewar is exactly similar wherein both the existing airports have been given on lease to private companies. The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh heard the delegation seriously and said that the Group of Ministers (GoM) had been studying the matter and assured the delegation that their points would be considered seriously. Besides, he also assured that the demand of Rs. 80,000 crore special economic package and allocation of coal linkage blocks would also be considered seriously.

The delegation apprised the PM that the UP Government had requested the Ministry of Coal, Government of India to sanction coal linkages for thermal power plants to be set up at Etah, Sonbhadra, Lalitpur and Yamuna Express Way Authority Area. Besides, they also requested that 06 coal blocks should be allocated for UP considering the proposed increase in the power generation capacity of the State. The delegation apprised the Prime Minister that owing to the shortage of coal, the existing power plants could not use their full capacity. They said that the Centre should change its policy and decrease the linkages allocated for coastal States and it should provide requisite coal as per the linkage to the States like UP. The MPs said that the power projects based on imported coal should be set up in coastal areas and if the cost of the imported coal was higher, then the Centre should compensate the loss of these States. The Prime Minister lent a patient hearing to the delegation and assured that full help would be extended for sanctioning Rs. 80,000 crore economic package and allotment of coal linkage blocks.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati has termed Union Human Resources Development Minister Mr. Kapil Sibal’s comments regarding the implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act in UP as irresponsible and misleading. She said that the Congress led UPA Government formulated new laws from time to time just to mislead people, but when the time of their implementation came it just shied away from its responsibilities and put entire onus on the State Governments. She said that this was not happening for the first time. She said that the UPA Government formulated laws and legislations in the name of development, but it never did its homework before their implementation. She said that the Centre shoved its half cooked programmes on the State Governments to take their political mileage. Owing to it, the State Governments were facing difficulty and RTE Act was a good example of it.

The Chief Minister said that the task force constituted for the judicial impact assessment in the light of the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s directive had clearly recommended that if the Central Government formulated any Act on the subject included in the Union list and in the Concurrent list, then the Central Government should bear the full cost required for the implementation of the Act. Since, education is included in the concurrent list, therefore the Union Government should not pass on financial burden of the implementation of RTE Act on the State Governments.

Ms. Mayawati said that the State Government had been according top priority to education especially the basic education. She said that the budget for basic education was being increased continuously if compared to previous year. She said that Rs. 8613 crore had been allocated for basic education in the year 2007-08, Rs. 9700 crore were earmarked for the same head during the year 2008-09 and Rs. 12412 crore had been allocated under the same head during the year 2009-2010. She said that keeping in view the implementation of RTE Act, a provision of Rs. 15175 crore had been made for the year 2010-11 for basic education. It was 10 per cent of the total budget of the State, she said . These facts indicated that our government, despite heavy odds and limited resources, had decided to spend 10 per cent of the total budget on basic education, she added. She said that if the said central assistance was compared, then it would be clear that the Central Government had been misleading people regarding the RTE Act and it was trying to ignore the efforts of the State Government regarding the implementation of the RTE Act. She said that Mr. Kapil Sibal should have checked out facts before airing his views on the issue.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government had requested to the Central Government from time to time regarding all the circumstances, affecting the proper implementation of the RTE Act. In this regard, she had written letter to the Prime Minister to sanction an additional amount of Rs. 22868 crore in the first three years for the proper implementation of RTE Act. But, it was unfortunate that Mr. Sibal, instead of making arrangements to provide the requisite amount needed for the implementation of RTE Act, had been making cheap comments. It was clear that the Central Government did not intend to make education available to one and all according to the provisions of the RTE Act. It was just taking political mileage through this Act, she pointed out.

The Chief Minister said that U.P. was not the only state to ask additional funds for implementing RTE. She said that states like West Bengal, M.P., Karnataka, Punjab had expressed their inability to bear the financial burden needed for its implementation. Likewise, Chhatisgarh, Orrisa and Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh Government had also asked for additional funds for implementing this Act. She questioned whether Mr. Sibal had toured these states and given similar statement against these Governments. She said that it was clear that the Congress-led Central Government, which is out of power from the State since last 20 years, had adopted a negligent and partisan attitude against Uttar Pradesh. It is evident from the fact that during the last three years, since BSP Government came to power in the State, the Central Government had not released central share of Rs. 17492 crore, payable to the State Government, thus hampering the development works. She said that Mr. Sibal should not shift the responsibility for failure of the Central Government, but should sincerely think about implementation of RTE Act and should arrange funds for all the State Governments according to their demand.Terming the statement of Mr. Sibal regarding construction of memorials, museums, statutes and parks in honour of the Saints, Gurus and Great men of dalit and backward classes as very unfortunate, she said that the people were well aware of the reality that the fund spent on the construction of these monuments in the last three years was less then one per cent of the budget. She asked why, Mr. Sibal does not remember hundreds of memorials, museums, statutes and parks constructed in the name of Gandhi-Nehru family and billons of rupees were being spent every year on their maintenance. She said that the stupendous amount of public money spent on the construction of memorials of Gandhi-Nehru family, can very well be ascertained from this fact. Therefore, Mr. Sibal’s comments regarding the memorials constructed in the memory of great-men born in dalit and OBC sections were uncalled for and very cheap.

The Chief Minister was informed that according to her directives, Mr. Vijay Pratap Singh was admitted to Jeevan Jyoti Hospital and all the necessary arrangements were ensured for his proper treatment. After the improvement in the condition of Mr. Singh, he was shifted to a Delhi hospital for his further treatment, where his condition was improving. The Chief Minister has directed the Resident Commissioner, Delhi to enquire about the health of Mr. Singh personally in regular manner.

The treatment of the gunner, Mr. Sanjay Singh is going on in SGPGI, who became seriously injured in this incident. The Chief Minister has also wished for his speedy recovery. Ms. Mayawati said that she is with the family of Mr. Singh during this hour of crisis.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati, during a meeting of the National Development Council (NDC) presided over by the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and held at New Delhi today, said that the Central Government should come forward to bring the poor and exploited people back to the mainstream of development and also remove the regional imbalances. She demanded from the Centre to sanction various projects pending with it. She further demanded that the Centre should also release various amounts payable to the State under different heads. She expressed the hope that the Central Government would extend all possible cooperation to the UttarPradesh.

The meeting of the NDC had been called to review the situation arising out of the midterm appraisal of the 11th Five Year Plan and also to review various important points. The U.P. Parliamentary Minister Mr. Lalji Verma represented the Chief Minister at the meeting and presented her statement. She said that the midterm appraisal pointed out that the backward states and all the sections of the society were not getting equal opportunities. To provide equal opportunities to all the sections of the society and to ensure their progress and prosperity, action should be taken by putting aside political jealousy. Expressing gratitude towards the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for holding such an important meeting, the Chief Minister said that all of us should give serious thought to give development a new direction on the basis of midterm appraisal. She said that during the 11th Five Year Plan the concept of faster and inclusive growth had been conceived so that all round development of all the sections and regions of the state could be ensured.

The Chief Minister said that special mention of global meltdown, drought etc, had been made in the midterm appraisal. Allocation of necessary resources needed for the development works of Uttar Pradesh had been given top priority. Owing to it, the growth rate of the state stood at 7.9 per cent during 2007-08 and 7.2 per cent during the year 2008-09, even though the conditions were adverse. But, the ever rising inflation had made life difficult for the poor people. She said that keeping economic condition of the poor, the Central Government should make proper arrangements to provide relief to them.
The C.M. said that the Centre had kept the BPL list of 2002 intact so far and it was adversely affecting the poor families. She said that the U.P. Government had requested the Centre several times to include such families in the list. But, any action in this regard was still awaited. The Uttar Pradesh Government, with an objective to improve the economic condition of such poor families, had decided to implement UP Mukhya Mantri Mahamaya Gharib Arthik Madad Yojana through its own limited resources. As many as 30 lakh families would be benefited by this scheme during the first phase.

The Chief Minister said that the midterm appraisal pointed that the share of the Central assistance, being provided to the States, had been dwindling gradually. She said that the banks should prepare their schemes to accelerate the disbursal of loans. They should also cooperate in the implementation of the schemes being conducted by the State Government.

The C.M. said that the removal of regional imbalances should be given top priority. She said that the imbalances present between the states and within the State would have far-reaching ramifications. She said that Rs. 80,000 crore special economic package had been demanded from the Centre to remove imbalances, but the Centre had not taken any step in this regard. She said that a drought relief package of Rs. 3506 crore had been sanctioned for Bundelkhand region, which was very little amount considering the geographical conditions of this area.

The C.M. said that despite high growth rate, the condition of poor and farmers was precarious. The farmers were not getting remunerative prices of their produce, she pointed out. The agriculture growth rate, fixed for the 11th Five Year Plan for the entire country, was lagging way behind. There were immense possibilities of development of agriculture in the country and the Centre should come forward to translate them into reality. The Chief Minister said that her Government had accorded top priority to the development of agriculture. The farmers were being provided 90 per cent subsidy on gypsum and zinc sulphate for land reclamation to encourage organic farming and bio fertilizer. She said that there was a need to increase the limit of subsidy payable on hybrid paddy varieties from Rs. 40 to Rs. 100 or 50 per cent of the cost. She said that any differentiation between the development of agriculture of various states cannot be accepted. She said that under the Dalhan evam Tilhan Gram Sthapana Yojana, only 5400 villages had been selected in Uttar Pradesh, while 10200 villages had been selected in Maharashtra for this scheme. She demanded from the Centre to take at least 5 projects as national irrigation projects to
meet the challenges of a large state like Uttar Pradesh.

Expressing her views on MNREGA, the C.M. said that this scheme should not be confined to merely providing employment of 100 days only. She said that the problem of unemployment cannot be solved without providing permanent source of employment to the people. She said that it was being emphasised to arm panchayats with all the power, so that they could be made self-reliant. She said that an amount of Rs. 10 lakh per village, being provided under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana, was inadequate. Emphasising the need to accelerate the pace of development in the naxal affected areas, she demanded from the Government of India that Sonbhadra, Mirzapur and Chandauli should also be included in the list of 33 districts affected by naxalism.

Underlining the important role of power, roads and transport for the development of infrastructure facilities of the state, the Chief Minister said that the Central Government should extend its cooperation in this regard. She said that efforts were being made to set up about 5000 MW new projects during the 11th Five Year Plan and 25000 MW new projects between 12th Five Year Plan. She requested the Ministry of Coal to sanction coal linkages for thermal power plants to be set up in Etah, Sonbhadra, Lalitpur and Yamuna Expressway Authority Area. She emphasised that the policy of allocating 75 per cent power to the States should be adopted instead of the Gadgil Formula.

The C.M. said that all the villages/majras having a population of 1000 or above had been linked under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna. She said that the scheme to link villages/majras having a population of 500 or above was not being sanctioned on the pretext that the scheme to link villages/majras having a population of 1000 and above was not still fully implemented in other states. On the other hand, electrification of majras was not being sanctioned under the
Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojna, while the electrification of all the majras of other states had been completed. She said that the
Centre should bear 90 per cent cost under the Right to Education Act. She demanded that Rs. 22868 crore should be provided to UP for the development of education infrastructure in the short span of three years. Welcoming Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, she said that UP was being discriminated under this scheme. She said that there was a need to amend this scheme.

The C.M. requested that all the beneficiaries of the widow pension and disabled pension scheme should also be covered under National Social Assistance Scheme like the beneficiaries of old age pension. Besides, she also emphasised that Central assistance should be provided, so that the students of the pre-10th could also be provided scholarship like the post-10th students. She said that central assistance for the ICDS program should be made 100 per cent as earlier. She said that the SC should also be given right to get forest land like the STs under the Forest Rights Act. The Chief Minister also demanded 90 per cent subsidy on the projects of those areas which were often hit by drought, besides the DPAP declared development blocks. Terming the amount of Rs. 57 crore allocated for 27 districts of eastern U.P. for the green revolution project as inadequate, she said that at least Rs. 10 crore should be provided for each district. She emphasised that the limit of refinancing for NABARD set for providing loan facility to the farmers under the cooperative sector, should be raised from the existing 40 per cent to 75 per cent. She also requested the Centre to sanction 15 lakh houses per year annually under the Indira Avas Scheme for the 11th Five Year Plan.

The C.M. requested that Rs. 9700 crore should be sanctioned for projects for the electrification of 1.37 lakh majras and Rs. 5962 crore should be sanctioned for projects proposed under PMGSY. The Chief Minister demanded that the International Airport and Aviation Hub Project proposed to be set up at Jewar should be given agreement in principle. Besides, the airport, being set up at Kushinagar on PPP basis, should be given NOC at the earliest. Besides, she also demanded that Rs. 2000 crore amount for the scholarship of the OBC students should be released immediately. Besides, one-time additional central assistance of Rs. 83.31 crore should be released for Aganbari centres. She also demanded 50 per cent increase in the basic structure of the courts and to provide 50 per cent of the estimated expenditure of Rs. 772 crore for the new building of Lucknow Bench.

The C.M. also demanded special encouragement for the states to upgrade the arms and ammunition of the police force and to provide them latest equipment. The Chief Secretary Mr. Atul Kumar Gupta, Infrastructure Development Commissioner and Principal Secretary Finance Mr. Anoop Mishra and Principal Secretary Planning Mr. Manjeet Singh participated in the meeting on behalf of the State Government.

The Chief Minister was reviewing the works of jail administration department in a high-level meeting at her official residence here today. She directed that the height of old jails’ main boundary wall and circle wall should be extended up to 22 feet and 18 feet respectively as an immediate step to strengthen the security system. She directed the officers to complete the works of 10 jails under construction soon.

The Chief Minister has also directed the officers for 10 per cent increase in the account of food expenditure. She said that effective action should be taken in the cases of releasing the convicts before the scheduled time period. She has also sanctioned the posts of 848 personnel as per needs of present jails and recruitment of 3000 home guards in jails.

The C.M. has directed the officers to set-up the separate jail for each district as a long term step, besides establishing five additional central jails. She directed that the facilities of camera, CCTV, electronic surveillance with control room should be provided for improving the security system of jails. She also directed that sewer and sewer treatment plant facility should be developed at every jail. She directed the officers to issue necessary orders to ensure the strict implementation of directives issued during the review meeting.

The Chief Minister has also directed to take legal action according to the rules against the illegal possessors on the land of SC/ST patta holders. It may be recalled that after coming to power in May, 2007 the Chief Minister had given the directives for the removal of illegal
possession through launching drive and making allotment of agriculture and residential land to the eligible SC/ST persons. Following the directives of the Chief Minister during the review meetings, the senior Government officers visited and made inspections. As a result 1054.879 hectare agriculture land was allotted to 5596 SC/ST persons in this financial year and all these allottees were given possession. Similarly, 88.426 hectare residential land was allotted to 8369 beneficiaries till May, 2010. Besides, drive has been launched for removal of illegal possessors on agriculture land, under which 3561 illegal possessors were removed and possession was given to real allottees. FIR was lodged against 74 illegal possessors and 88 persons were arrested and sent to jail.

Similarly, 1370 real patta holders got possession on residential land after the removal of illegal possessors. FIR was lodged in four cases and 11 illegal possessors were sent to jail. Action was taken against the illegal possessors on agriculture land of patta holders of Gram Sabha. An amount of Rs. 19,30,135 was realised from them. Besides, 3798 cases
were lodged and imprisonment was given in 561 cases and penalty in 685 cases.
The Chief Minister has directed that the SC/ST people and weaker sections of the society should be benefited by the welfare schemes on priority basis. She has also directed the officers to ensure the social and economic.
Reference: http://information.up.nic.in

The Chief Minister said that there was a need to launch an awareness drive to prevent production and selling of below standard/spurious drugs to save the lives of the people in the State. Larger participation of the people should be ensured in this drive, she added. She said that the Government was committed to stop the incidents of adultery in food and drugs in the State. She said that the task force, formed to check the activities of the organised criminals/mafias indulging in the adulteration of food articles and drugs, should be made effective immediately and all the officers/ employees should be posted in it. She said that the examination of the collected samples of the edible articles should be carried out quickly, so that cases against the criminals indulging in adultery could be filed in the courts.

During the meeting, the officers apprised the Chief Minister of the action taken against the guilty persons and the drive launched for prevention of adulteration in drugs. They said that raids were conducted in several districts of the State in the month of June. During the raids, cases were lodged against 22 persons in the concerning police stations and 18 persons were arrested on the spot. Medicines for Government supply more than worth Rs. 89 lakh
“physician sample not for sale” were confiscated. Action for registering cases was being taken against the guilty persons/firms after proper investigation. During the meeting, it was told that food inspectors had made 88,904 inspections in the year of 2010, so far from the month of January to prevent adulteration in food items. During this period, 7075 raids were conducted and 7392 samples were sent for checking of adulteration, 1406 cases were filed in the court regarding adulterated samples. Imprisonment punishment was given by the Court to 208 persons and penalty worth Rs. 3,51,120 was slapped. FIR was lodged in the offence of 112 serious cases of adulteration and items worth Rs. 97,63,131 were confiscated.
Reference:http://information.up.nic.in/test4.asp?id=PN-21June-2010-Eng.pdf