Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint)

FM or PM! Someone Must Reply

Posted : February 22, 2006 at 9:38 am [IST]

I really have been hero worshipper since childhood and a little more ambitious too. I respect some people. Both FM and PM are two of them. However, when I find their words and promises hollow and going without any real implementation success, I get pained. As a commoner, I have picked two promises FM made in Budget 2004-2005 ‘Speech of P. Chidambaram on July 8, 2004. I am quoting the portions as available even today from the site of Finance Ministry.

23. I am concerned about the quality of technical education in the country. Lest I be misunderstood, I am not referring to the IITs but to the ITIs. ITIs are the training ground for skilled manpower. The skills imparted by ITIs must keep pace with the technological demands of industry and the expanding universe of knowledge. There is only one benchmark for our technicians - and that is the world standard. In order to produce technicians of world standard, Government proposes to launch a programme in the Central sector to upgrade 500 ITIs over the next 5 years at the rate of 100 ITIs a year. Appropriate infrastructure and equipment will be provided, the syllabi will be upgraded and new trades will be introduced. This is an area where I welcome Chambers of Commerce and Industry to join hands with the Government and create a public-private partnership model for designing and implementing the scheme. The selection of the ITIs will be done in consultation with the State Governments.
Restoring water bodies

36. I now turn to one of my big dreams. Water is the lifeline of civilization. We have been warned that the biggest crisis that the world will face in the 21st century will be the crisis of water. Water is indeed a renewable resource but, in any given year, it is not inexhaustible. The crisis of water has affected the lives of millions of our fellow citizens. In some cities, whole households keep awake to receive one or two buckets of water well past midnight. In rural areas, the girl child is often pulled out of school in order to fetch water. I am deeply concerned about the impending crisis. I therefore propose an ambitious scheme. Through the ages, Indian agriculture has been sustained by natural and man-made water bodies such as lakes, tanks, ponds and similar structures. It has been estimated that there are more than a million such structures and about 500,000 are used for irrigation. Many of them have fallen into disuse. Many of them have accumulated silt. Many require urgent repairs.
37. I therefore propose to launch a massive scheme to repair, renovate and restore all the water bodies that are directly linked to agriculture. In the current year, we shall begin with pilot projects in at least five districts, and we shall select at least one district in each of the five regions of the country. The estimated cost is Rs.100 crore. Funds for the five pilot projects will be drawn from existing programmes such as SGRY, PMGJSY, DPAP, DDP and IWDP. Once the pilot projects are completed and validated, Government will launch the National Water Resources Development Project and complete it over a period of 7 to 10 years.

38. Funds will not be a constraint for implementing the Project. For instance, Life Insurance Corporation of India invests, on an average, Rs.3000 crore per year in water-related programmes. I also intend to pose this Project to multilateral agencies for funding. It is my hope that by the beginning of the next decade all water bodies in India will be restored to their original glory and that the storage capacity of these water bodies will be augmented by at least 100 per cent.

I shall like to know how many of ITIs have been modernized and how many water bodies are restored in last three years by December 2005. Am I asking for too much? If FM and his government have not been able to keep up these promises, what is the fun of going on announcing programmes after programmes? How can a citizen believe and feel good about the new programmes of Bharat Nirman or any other what FM will come out with on February 28, 2006? After all under the Right Of Information Act, I have a right to get the replies about my simple queries.

Will I get my queries on ITIs and the restorations of waterbodies replied?

PS Where are yesterday’s budget ideas?
Science hub rues unkept promise

- Indra

Category: Government Policy/Administration |