Political rivalry, especially between the Centre and the state, on the eve of the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, is costing Uttar Pradesh very dear.
Development projects kicked off by off by the Centre and which needed the state government?s approval are purposely put on the backburner and the same fate is being meted out to projects that have been kicked off by the state government.
In fact, political parties and the personal ambitions of the politicians are dwarfing the growth and development of the state to such an extent that the state stand on the lowest rung of development in the country. Lest any particular party or leader run away with the honor of ushering in development and industrialization in the state, there is a mad rush among political rivals to put up roadblocks to any development project that is being planned for the state.
In Rae Bareli and Sultanpur districts itself, the parliamentary constituencies of Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul Gandhi, as many as five projects are hanging fire due to the hurdles being put up by the state government.
The souring of the relations between the Centre and state has not only cast a shadow on the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli, but also hampered the progress of at least four other ambitious projects that are coming up in the region, where the state government has either not given its NOC or not acquired land for them yet.
Approximately 350 acres of land is required for the Hindustan Paper Mills factory in Jagdishpur, in Amethi, which will be set up at an estimated costy of Rs 11,000 crore. More than a year has elapsed, but the district administration is yet to arrange for the land.
The Rajiv Gandhi Petroleum Institute?s foundation, too, was laid almost a year back by Sonia Gandhi on the 50 acres of land belonging to the Petroleoum ministry, but the institute still needs an additional 200 acres of land, which the state government has not made available yet.
The CRPF Admission Centre, in Amethi also needs about 225 acres of land. Though the Uttar Pradesh State Industrial Development Corporation has about 271 acres, it has not transferred the same to the CRPF yet. Land for the premier National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) has also not been allotted by the state government. Almost 100 acres is required for the project that would be used for pharma research and manpower training and the ministry of chemicals and fertiliser is ready to offer competitive rates for the land, but the state government has shown no interest in having the land acquired yet.
Infact the highly ambitious project of the Mayawati government: the Jewar airport is also in the doldrums. The state government has been actively pursuing the case with the Centre for a long time, but the project has been given a silent burial after the Attorney General?s office conveyed to the Centre the setting up of a greenfield airport in Jewar, in Greater Noida will clearly violate the agreement signed between the GMR group, the promoters of the Indira Gandhi International Airport and the ministry of civil aviation.
Moreover, with the Mayawati government canceling its order for land allotment of 189.25 hectares of gram sabha land for the setting up of the rail coach factory in Rae Bareli on the grounds that ?there is immense anger among the people whose land has been acquired and that the situation in the villages where land has been acquired, has turned explosive,? may backfire. Plans to implement many ambitious development projects, including the Ganga Expressway project, requires vast areas of land to be acquired, which may turn difficult for the state government with its present stance.
