Maharashtra seeks Rs 7,180 cr central aid for irrigation projects

Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 14 (IANS) Maharashtra Governor C. V. Rao on Saturday sought a financial assistance of Rs 7,180 crore to complete various irrigation projects in 14 districts prone to farmers suicides.

He urged the central government to consider it as "a special case" and provide the aid for completing 114 irrigation projects to help resolve the serious agrarian crises in those worst-affected districts.

Besides, Rao appealed for devolution of all powers to the grassroots level of Panchayats and Municipalities, as enshrined in the 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution, to achieve the development goals of New India 2022.

He raised the issues while intervening at the two-day Conference of Governors held in Rashtrapati Bhavan which was addressed by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Against the backdrop of the last month's stampede which killed 23 Mumbai commuters, Rao called for improved coordination between the Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) and increase the strength of GRP which has remained stagnant since 1982.

Referring to poor mobile and telephone connectivity in remote tribal areas of Maharashtra, he said that this was proving to be a major handicap in providing medical and emergency services to the people, especially pregnant women needing urgent deliveries, in the tribal belts of Nandurbar, Gadchiroli, Nanded and Amravati districts.

Mentioning initiatives for Raj Bhavans in the state, he informed that a 1 MW Solar Power Plant come up in Pune Raj Bhavan, which is the largest among all governors' residences in India.

While he was holding additional charge as Tamil Nadu Governor, Rao said he got a 400 KW solar plant installed in the Chennai Raj Bhavan, which will be second largest (among all gubernatorial residences) in the country, and recommended similar solar power plants to be installed in all states' Raj Bhavans.