Dariyabad constituency in Barabanki district, 60 km from state capital Lucknow, has been the focus of several corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities by the steel ministry?s public sector units ? Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL) and National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) ? in the past three months.
Incidentally, Union steel minister Beni Prasad Verma?s son, Rakesh Verma, is contesting the Assembly elections from Dariyabad on a Congress ticket against ruling Samajwadi Party MLA Raja Rajiv Kumar Singh. Elections here are due on February 8.
The CSR initiatives since November last year include laying of foundation stones of an industrial training institute at Barabanki by RINL, a bridge at Khamauli Nala on Gazipur-Dariyabad Sampark Marg by SAIL and two community centres by NMDC and MSTC. Also, R7.40 lakh was given to 10 schools in Dariyabad for adding more classrooms through various PSUs of the steel ministry. People of the area say the steel minister came with the chief executives of these PSUs in tow for distributing cheques for various schemes.
In fact, ever since Beni Prasad became minister of state for steel with independent charge in January last year, and later a full-fledged Cabinet minister after a reshuffle in July, both the PSUs of the steel ministry ? SAIL and RINL ? have launched a spurt of CSR activities in UP in general and Barabanki and Gonda in particular. While Barabanki is the minister?s home district, Gonda is his present Lok Sabha constituency. A total of three industrial training institutes have been planned in Uttar Pradesh. Two of them will be set up by SAIL ? one in Gonda and one in Jagdishpur, part of Rahul Gandhi?s constituency in Amethi ? and one by RINL in Barabanki.
When asked about SAIL?s sudden interest in Barabanki on the eve of elections, the Maharatna chairman CS Verma said there was nothing unusual in it. ?We take up many CSR activities all over the country and across UP. It is not concentrated in any particular area. What we are doing in Barabanki is also part of our normal CSR activity and it has nothing to do with elections. All our activities are done as per our CSR policy, which has already been approved by our Board,? he said.
RINL, which will set up the ITI, has not sanctioned any money for the project yet. It has asked Hindustan Steelworks Construction Limited (HSCL), another steel ministry undertaking, to conduct a survey of the land needed for the project, details of the infrastructure and give a budget estimate. Based on that, RINL will decide whether to go for the project alone or to pool resources with others. ?We have still not got off the ground at Dariyabad and hence do not have a proper grip on the estimates. But developing ITIs for promotion of skill development is an acute need of the industry,? said an RINL official who did not wish to be identified. On the question whether this was an electoral gimmick, he said even if it was, the end beneficiaries would be the people of the area.
?The electorate is not getting fooled anymore. They understands what is genuine and what is being done to allure them,? he added.
The minister, too, sees nothing wrong in PSUs concentrating on Barabanki. While speaking to this correspondent at the time of making the announcements on CSR on December 13, barely ten days before election dates were announced by the EC, he had said that his ministry has been undertaking various projects in different parts of the country and the state on CSR activities. ?Every year, projects worth crores are launched all across the country. So what is the harm if a few crores are spent for the betterment of the people of my area? There is nothing illegal about it. I am planning these initiatives for the people and their betterment,? he had said.
Appreciating the various initiatives taken by RINL, SAIL and NMDC under their corporate social responsibility recently, he said, ?This is all a part of the steel ministry?s efforts at enhancing socio-economic development and improving the standard of living of the people. The ITI would provide an opportunity for local youth to pursue technical courses and help in developing skilled manpower. The initiatives are in line with the governments? philosophy of providing basic facilities to the aam aadmi and will go a long way in enabling Uttar Pradesh to become one of the best states of the country.?
In fact, in December last year, the minister had, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said the state-run Steel Authority of India had spent Rs 2.97 crore in Uttar Pradesh on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in the first five months of the current fiscal. This was against an allocation of Rs 64 crore for undertaking CSR projects across the country for 2011-12, the minister had written.
But Verma?s detractors are not convinced. ?Be it the promotion of education, strengthening water infrastructure, installing solar streetlights, providing flood relief, building community centres, a bridge or an ITI, all this is being done ostensibly by the steel ministry on the minister?s orders. He can say they are all CSR activities, but my question is why now, just before elections were announced and why just in Dariyabad in Barabanki? Because Barabanki is his home district and because his son is contesting from here?? questioned Shiv Shankar Shukla, who was reportedly trying to get a Congress ticket for himself from Dariyabad before Beni Prasad allegedly ?managed? to get it for his son. ?What is at stake here is Beni Prasad?s prestige and that is the reason he has left no stone unturned to ensure that his son gets through,? alleged Shukla.
But Rakesh Verma is unfazed by the allegations, stating that all those saying that his father was misusing the steel ministry?s money to fund his electoral fortunes were actually ?anti-development?. ?Whatever development you can see in Barabanki today, be it roads or bridges, has been done by babuji (Beni Prasad) after he became the state PWD minister in 1974 and then the Union telecom minister. Earlier, one had to think before coming to this place as there were no roads, no schools, no lights, no telephones. People had to take a detour of 40-50 km because there was no bridge to cross over rivers or canals. He has got schools built, got roads constructed. That is why he is popularly known as ?vikas purush? in this area. And now that babuji is again trying to get things done through his ministry, opposition parties are hurling accusations that he is misusing the ministry?s money. It is highly unfortunate,? junior Verma told this reporter while campaigning in Baranpur village.
