BJP slams Nitish for not spending central fund for rural roads

The BJP today accused Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of "not spending" Rs 919 crore provided by the Centre for implementing the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in the rural areas.
"Kumar keeps blaming the Centre for neglecting Bihar and cutting down financial allotment to it. But see what he is doing. The state was given Rs 919 crore as the first instalment under the PMGSY on April 24 this year. The money is kept in the treasury. He is just not spending it," senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said.
The former deputy chief minister alleged that the work of roads under the PMGSY has come to a standstill as the state government did not provide the money released by the Centre to Bihar Rural Road Development Agency, which in turn could not pay to the contractors.

"Bihar has slipped in construction and upgrade of rural roads. The condition of roads in rural areas here is the worst among all states in the country. The ban on stone mining has created a scarcity of stone chips due to which big contractors are not coming to the state," he said.
Modi also blamed Kumar for the "stagnation in road construction in rural areas".
"Kumar should accept that the NDA government gave Rs 1,548 crore to Bihar during financial year 2014-15, which was close to double of Rs 851 crore provided by the UPA government in 2013-14. The Centre has allotted Rs 2,281 crore for rural roads in Bihar for 2015-16," he said adding, people would hold Kumar responsible for the bad shape of rural roads.