Congress 'committing sin' by blocking CAMPA Bill: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

NEW DELHI: Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today accused Congress of "committing a sin" by blocking the CAMPA Bill in Parliament under which the Centre could have sanctioned Rs 42,000 crore to various states for afforestation.

The Bill seeks to create a Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) and a Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF).

Naqvi alleged Congress has blocked development of the Dalits, tribals, and weaker sections by creating hurdles in the passage of several important bills for the past several Sessions.

The Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs said had the CAMPA Bill been passed, the states will get Rs 42,000 crore for afforestation work on war-footing and this becomes more important keeping in view the ongoing monsoon.

Naqvi said, the share of states in this scenario would have been - Odisha (Rs 5996 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 1314 crore), Uttarakhand (Rs 2210 crore), Himachal Pradesh (Rs 1395 crore) and Jammu and Kashmir (Rs 926 crore).

The Bill was listed in the Rajya Sabha today but could not be taken up amid disruptions over demands to pass a private member's bill to provide special status to Andhra Pradesh.