By IANS,
Lucknow : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati once again stayed away from the chief minister’s meet on internal security in New Delhi Tuesday but reiterated that her state was neglected and demanded central aid for police modernisation.
Like in the past, she sent her cabinet colleague and state parliamentary affairs minister Lalji Verma, who read out a speech on her behalf.
Through the speech, Mayawati sought to allege before the chief ministers of all states that Uttar Pradesh and its 20 crore people were a neglected lot and that the central government was indifferent to its needs and demands.
While reiterating her tall financial demands, she said: “We have been dealing with major problems like terrorism, communalism, and other related problems without the desired assistance from the centre.”
“The centre must provide at least 50 percent support towards the state’s police budget of Rs.7,400 crore, besides a flat special grant of Rs.555 crore that we require for carrying out largescale modernization in the police force.”
Mayawati added: “Despite the financial constraints, we could undertake several measures for modernization of the police force for which we received a paltry sum of Rs.100 crore from the centre.”
“Furthermore, the state was currently in the process of recruiting more than 200,000 constables to meet the desperate requirement of proper policing across the sprawling state.”
Emphasising how despite the meagre resources, her government had done its bit, she added: “We raised our own Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), which has done commendable work not only in busting terrorist outfits but also in nabbing a couple of dreaded terrorists wanted in other states.”
Mayawati also praised her government for handling the law and order situation arising on account of the court verdict in the long pending Ayodhya case.
“Even though the centre did not provide us the required police force, we were able to keep the situation fully under control; and because the communal situation was not allowed to go out of hand in UP (Uttar Pradesh), the rest of the country too remained calm,” she claimed.