Injustice in fund allocation against Oppn MLAs, alleges Vijay Wadettiwar

Congress Legislative Party leader Vijay Wadettiwar on Monday alleged that the Mahayuti government is biased claiming that funds allocated in the budget have been given exclusively to MLAs from the ruling alliance while opposition legislators have been left outParticipating in a discussion on the departmental budget in the state Assembly Wadettiwar said that while funds had been provided for roadworks in the constituencies of ruling party MLAs opposition MLAs had received nothingldquoIs this what lsquoSabka Saath Sabka Vikasrsquo looks likerdquo he asked reported IANSWadettiwar alleges bias in road repairsAccording to IANS Wadettiwar said that roads in the constituencies of ruling MLAs are being improved but the moment those constituencies end the roads become dilapidated forcing people to navigate potholeridden stretchesHe demanded that opposition MLAs should not be excluded from the allocation of funds and should receive their due shareHe further said that roads across the state are in poor condition and contractors have not been paid their previous duesWith Rs 62000 crore in outstanding bills contractors have warned of launching a strike from April 6Wadettiwar also raised concerns over an alleged Rs 250 crore QR code scam in Chhatrapati SambhajinagarHe claimed that contractors siphoned off crores of rupees using QR codes without carrying out any actual workldquoAre the ministers even paying attention to thisrdquo he questionedWadettiwar alleges tribal funds diverted institutions neglectedHighlighting what he described as the dire state of the Tribal Development Department Wadettiwar alleged that tribal funds are being diverted to the lsquoLadki Bahinrsquo schemeldquoTribal children did not receive funds for uniforms for an entire year and orders were placed only at the end of March Out of the Rs 4349 crore allocated for social security and welfare in the Tribal Development Department a staggering Rs 3416 crore has been diverted to the lsquoLadki Bahinrsquo scheme Depriving tribal children of facilities to implement other schemes is an act of injusticerdquo he saidWadettiwar accused the government of strangling educational institutions due to political animosity reported IANSHe cited the example of action taken against Nitesh Karalersquos Phoenix Career Development Academy alleging that the institution was investigated and shut down simply because Karale had campaigned against a tribal ministerrsquos daughter in local body electionsldquoAction is being taken against wellfunctioning institutions out of sheer political revenge which is harming students Is this a democracy or a dictatorshiprdquo he askedHe also condemned the practice of making students clean toilets in tribal hostels calling it ldquoextremely shamefulrdquo and demanding action against the managementWadettiwar slams BJP over Vidarbha promise new Vidhan Bhavan planAs per IANS Wadettiwar further criticised the BJP for going back on its 2014 promise of creating a separate Vidarbha stateHe noted that the government plans to spend Rs 1000 crore on a new Vidhan Bhavan in NagpurHe argued that if the project is expected to be completed by 2028 it suggests the government has no intention of creating a separate VidarbhaAccording to him this goes against former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayeersquos vision of ldquosmaller statesrdquo and amounts to a betrayal of the people of VidarbhaWadettiwar also said that wages in Maharashtrarsquos cement industry are significantly lower compared to Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh leading to the exploitation of workersReferring to preparations for the Kumbh Mela he alleged that substandard work has been detected in several projects reported IANSHe took a swipe at the government claiming that while the Divisional Commissioner is attempting to take action ministers are shielding the engineers responsible