Centre curtailing funds to Uttarakhand: Harish Rawat

DEHRADUN: Accusing the Centre of curtailing allocation of funds to Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said in the first two and a half months of the current fiscal alone the state has had to suffer a shortfall to the tune of Rs 500 crore in central assistance.

"The Centre has slashed allocation of funds to Uttarakhand under different heads using recommendations of the 14th finance commission as an excuse. In the first two and half months of 2015-2016 alone we have had to bear with a shortfall of nearly Rs 500 crore in central funds," Rawat told reporters here.

He also charged the Centre with not releasing even a single penny to Uttarakhand to organise the 2016 Ardhakumbh Mela on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar despite repeated reminders.

"I have met possibly all heavyweights at the Centre several times and told them about the proximity of the event which is likely to see a religious congregation of nearly eight crore people. Still we haven't received a single penny from the Centre till date.

"That too when states like Maharashtra (Nashik), Madhya Pradesh (Ujjain) and Bihar (Patna) have already received funds for the event in spite of the fact that they hold it on a much smaller scale," Rawat said.

Accusing BJP leaders in Uttarakhand of spreading a canard that there has been no curtailment in fund allocations to the hill state by the Centre, he said it was part of the opposition party's "strategy to speak a lie so loudly that it sounds more true than truth itself."