Lucknow: The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav has the money for two seven-seater Mercedes cars and two similar Land Cruisers but had drastically downsized the budget of state women’s commission even when the security of women in Uttar Pradesh become the cause of concern.
A Right to Information (RTI) question posed by social activist Urvashi Sharma revealed that through the last three years, the Uttar Pradesh government of Samajwadi Party has slashed the budgetary allocations made to the state women’s commission.
The budget of the women’s panel was cut by over 85% in between 2011-12and 2013-14.
In 2011-12, the commission got Rs 5.1 crore in financial grants and this went down to Rs 4.16, crore of which Rs 3.9 crore was spent.
However the allocation was further slashed to a mere Rs 75 lakh in 2013-14.
RTI activist Urvashi Sharma told a news agency she was “amazed” at the replies to her petition.
She said, “This is the state of affairs in a government where no one, from the top political leadership to the bureaucracy, misses any chance to hype their pro-women image.”
Sharma wondered if there were financial constraints, from where was the government finding money for the Mercedes and the Land Cruisers for the 41-year-old Chief Minister, who is currently on a family holiday in London.
Sharma also said women from far-off places like Poorvanchal and Bundelkhand were finding it difficult to get justice from the commission, as neither were there funds nor the will to redress problems faced by women in the state.
Meanwhile women’s right activist Neelam Ranjan claimed it “simply bizarre and shocking.” She also said that SP had always a “pathetic” record on women’s empowerment.
Ranjan said, “Though I find this budget cut shocking, coming from the Samajwadi government, the pain is minimised because it is a government where its national president calls rape ‘small mistakes’, its Chief Minister refuses to visit rape victims and a minister says he cannot have gun-totting security for every woman in the state.”
State BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak had slammed the budget cuts and said the government had no concern for the people, especially women.
Notifies that statistics shows that everyday five rapes occurred in Uttar Pradesh and state is on number 1 position in the list of maximum dowry harassment cases which was issued by National Crime Records Bureau.
One side the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh increasing day by day against women on the other hand neither CM nor any minister of state taking concern toward it but they usually make controversial comment over incidents which reflects inhumanity of leaders.
Bureau Report
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