A 'Group of Ministers on Media'
comprising Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Minister for Information
and Broadcasting Ambika Soni and Law Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday
rejected Chief Minister Narendra Modi's oft-repeated allegation against
the Centre of discriminating against his government on the matter of
allocation of funds.
Chidambaram said there was no question
of any discrimination against Gujarat and that the figures themselves
contradicted Modi's contentions. The Central funding for Gujarat had
increased from Rs 21,700 crore in 2005-2006 to Rs 51,000 crore in 2012-13,
he said. However, he admitted larger contribution towards the state's
development came from its own resources.
Chidambaram also pointed out that
Modi was not the only chief minister of a non-Congress-ruled state to
make such an allegation. He said he faced such questions from every
opposition chief minister, and that during the NDA rule, non-NDA governments
in states made similar complaints. “The UPA government is for the
development of entire India,” he said.
In response to Modi's claims that
Gujarat was the fastest-growing state in the country, Chidambaram said
that there was development in Gujarat as in any other state in the country.
“All states are growing and the Centre has contributed for the development
of all states,” he said.
Criticising the Modi government's
Vibrant Gujarat campaign, Soni said malnutrition among women and children
in Gujarat was higher than the national average.
While the national average of malnutrition
among women was 51 per cent, “it is 55 per cent in Gujarat”, she
said. “The state economy can be termed as vibrant when women and children
of the state are able to stand on their own.”
