Minister slams Centre over cut in irrigation funds

Bihar Water Resources Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary today hit out at the Centre for reducing funds to the state under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme and said it will put additional burden on the state exchequer for irrigation and flood control works.
"The Centre has tweaked the guidelines for sharing cost of irrigation works with states in the ratio of 50:50 in the wake of the 14th Finance Commission recommendations as against 90:10 earlier," Chaudhary said in the legislative Assembly replying to a debate on the Water Resources Department's budgetary allocation of Rs 2,288 crore.
The Centre has done away with grants for irrigation, water and flood management schemes under the finance panel's recommendation due to which Bihar stands to lose Rs 353 crore which it had received last year, he said.

In another setback to Bihar, the Centre has raised the eligibility criteria for grants for small flood control works to Rs 40 crore from the earlier Rs 12 crore, as a result of which the state government will not get central grants for completion of all those flood-related works which cost less than Rs 40 crore, the Minister said.
Due to policy shift, Bihar stands to lose at least Rs 500 crore under irrigation and flood control schemes alone, he said.