NEW DELHI: The Election Commission (EC) has given a special permission to the ministry of finance to announce four infrastructure projects worth Rs 7,000 crore even while the general elections are on.
The permission has, however, come with a rider that no politician would be allowed to announce any one of those projects, sources close to the development told SundayET. The projects, which are funded by Japan's official development assistance (ODA), will benefit states of Delhi, Karnataka, Assam and Kerala. Whereas Delhi and Assam are Congress-ruled states, Karnataka and Kerala are ruled by the BJP and the Left respectively.
SundayET has learnt that the projects include the Rs 4,100 cr Delhi Metro (phase-2), a Rs 1,500 crore Guwahati water supply project, a Rs 910 crore Hogenakkal water supply and irrigation project (Phase - 2) and a Rs 680 crore Kerala water supply project.
"Initially, it was planned that political leaders would also be present during the function as some they were considered to be important projects, but the EC has made it clear that it won't allow any politician to take part in that function," a Finmin official, who did not want to be identified, said.
All the projects will now be jointly announced by the ambassador of Japan to India Hideaki Domichi and joint secretary of department of economic affairs (DEA) Kumar Sanjay Krishna, in New Delhi next week. There will be a formal signing ceremony as well, as projects are funded by another country.
Former industry secretary Ajay Dua told SundayET that he was not surprised by the fact that EC had given permission to formally launch a few projects during the poll process. "The government does not come to a halt during an election process. There could be new projects where commitment of fund must have come from external aid agencies or financial institutions. Those are not today's projects, but they were on the cards for quite sometime. But those can't wait for various reasons. Prior permission from EC ensures that the announcement cannot sway the voters as it's election time," he said.
Labels: Election Commission
Sushanta Talukdar
| Code of conduct debars it from initiating steps |
“The dry spell will not affect the performance of the party”
The government has enacted laws to curb blasting of hills in the city
Guwahati: The Assam government has decided to move the Election Commission to allow it to initiate relief measures for farmers affected by the long dry spell.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told journalists here that the government would seek relaxation from the Commission as the model code of conduct debarred it from initiating such measures.
The dry spell has led to the drying up of ground water sources and consequent shortage of drinking water. It has also affected the farmers as there is shortage of water for cultivation, Mr.Gogoi said.
The government has sought reports from the Deputy Commissioners about damage to the crop due to the dry spell. He also said that weather predictions by the Meteorological Centre were not encouraging.
The Chief Minister, however, felt that dry spell would not have any impact on performance of his party in the Lok Sabha or the turnout of voters. The people were intelligent enough to know that it was a natural calamity and hence they would not link it to the polls, he said.
Mr. Gogoi attributed the dry spell to deforestation and global climate change. He admitted that unabated blasting of hills and felling of trees had compounded the problem in the city. The government had enacted laws to curb blasting of hills in the city, he said.
Severe dust storms had disrupted flight schedules and led to cancellation of some of them at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bardoloi International Airport here for the past three days.
Labels: Election Commission
In view of the current dry spell, the state urgently needs to address the drinking water problem particularly in Guwahati
Guwahati, Mar 19 : The Assam government will seek Election Commission’s permission for sanctioning money for drinking water projects in view of the acute dry spell in the state.
“As the Lok Sabha poll dates have been announced, we will ask the Election Commission to allow us to sanction money for drinking water projects as there is tremendous water scarcity in the state,” said chief minister Tarun Gogoi.
“We have in the meantime asked district deputy commissioners to identify the projects and the money to be required,” Gogoi said.
Drinking water situation in Guwahati was very bad, he said, adding a Rs1,700 crore project for providing drinking water was already on. “I have also ordered for a census of the people illegally living in the hills of Guwahati to know the drinking water requirement in the city,” Gogoi said.
“We are very worried about the dry spell. Yes, deforestation is a cause of it. That is why we are giving emphasis on afforestation,” he said.
Labels: Election Commission, tarun gogoi
