By IANS
Mumbai : Maharasthtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh Thursday announced a package of a little over Rs.20.34 billion for the development of Marathwada, one of the most backward regions of the state.
However, only Rs.1.7 billion will be sanctioned in the current financial year up to March 2008. It will be mainly spent on constructing irrigation barrages, Deshmukh said in Aurangabad.
The remaining amount will be disbursed over next two years of the tenure of the ruling Democratic Front government.
The package followed a two-day meeting of the state cabinet – an annual ritual – held in the historic city of Aurangabad, located around 480 km from Mumbai.
The package includes provision for basic infrastructure, roads, watershed management, irrigation, constructing tanks in farmlands, health and education facilities, buildings for crèches and playgroups, setting up a silk development centre in Latur district and constructing a garment park and an agro products terminal.
The politically sensitive Marathwada includes the districts of Aurangabad, Beed, Osmanbad, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli, Parbhani and Jalna. The area has thrown up three chief ministers – late S.B. Chavan, Shivajirao Patil-Nilangekar and Deshmukh – plus several union and state ministers, including former Lok Sabha speaker and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil. Despite this, the region with a population of nearly 11 million continues to remain backward.
On Tuesday, the Marathwada Lokvikas Manch, a local pressure group, organized a daylong conference titled “Marathwada Vision-2020”. Inaugurated by State Finance Minister Jayant Patil on the eve of the state cabinet meet, it demanded the government’s attention in core areas like agriculture, rural development, irrigation and infrastructure of Marathwada region.