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Mayawati has money for statues, not for education?
5 Apr 2010, 0852 hrs IST
Union Education Minister Kapil Sibal has slammed Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Mayawati for her recent statements against the Right to
Education Act. After the BSP chief Mayawati claimed her state did not
have enough funds to implement the RTE Act, Sibal has suggested that
the CM divert some of the funds she allotted to build memorials
towards the welfare of children.
Sibal has said the Uttar Pradesh government could easily use some of
the money it has set aside to build statues, towards implementing the
RTE Act and that this would be "money well spent."
"Uttar Pradesh (government) has loads of money that they are spending
on memorials. If that very money was to be diverted to empower the
children of Uttar Pradesh and of course the children of India, perhaps
that would be money better spent," HRD Minister Kapil Sibal said,
reacting to Mayawati's remark in Lucknow yesterday.
BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Pradesh too hit out at the Chief
Minister, saying, "Mayawati has money only for the statues... that's
the real problem."
Mayawati had on Saturday (April 3) criticised the UPA government for
enacting and implementing the RTE without provisioning funds for the
programme and asked the Central government to provide the money for
imparting compulsory education to children of the state. Her comments
have added yet another spark to the already raging fire of controversy
over the vast amounts allocated by her government to build memorials
of Dalit leaders.
Sibal said no other Chief Minister had raised an issue of this nature
with regard to the RTE and that the law should not be politicised.
"I do not think that other Chief Ministers have raised issues of this
nature and I do not think we have to inject politics on an issue that
deals with the empowerment of children," he added.
Prasad, on his part said, Mayawati had also spoken of unavailability
of funds to compensate the victims of a recent stampede at an ashram
in Uttar Pradesh.
"She has funds for statues, security guards for those statues and such
things," he added.
Mayawati claimed that to implement the Act in Uttar Pradesh, Rs 18,000
crore would be needed in one year, of which 45 per cent - Rs 8,000
crore - has to be contributed by the state.
She went on to say it would be difficult for the state to arrange for
Rs 8,000 crore considering its present financial condition.
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