Centre funding states irrespective of who ever is ruling: Jaitley

Agartala, Feb 11 (IANS) Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday said the Narendra Modi government is providing funds to the states irrespective which party is ruling them, based on Finance Commission’s proposals and stipulated rules and not individual wishes.

Seeking to refute charges of many states including Left-ruled Tripura that the Centre is not providing due funds to the states and curtailing financial support to many central sponsored schemes, he said that the present government provides funds irrespective of all political situations in the state.

"Modi government wants full development of all the states including Tripura. Developmental politics must come forward. Central government always guided by Finance Commission recommendation, standard rules and norms and stipulated methodology," Jaitley told the media after releasing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s "Vision Document" for Tripura ahead of the February 18 polls.

He also said that the central funding pattern of 90:10 between the central and state government in any project in the northeastern states and three other hills states including Jammu and Kashmir, has been continuing.

Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is the party’s Tripura election in-charge, said that like for other northeastern states, the party has a "Vision Document" for the state.

Top BJP leaders, including President Amit Shah, Union Ministers Jaitley and Nitin Gadkari, General Secretary Ram Madhav, Shahnawaz Hussain, West Bengal’s Mukul Roy and Locket Chatterjee besides Sarma are in the state to campaign.

Madhav said that Prime Minister Modi, who addressed two elections rallies in Tripura on Thursday, will address two more public gatherings on February 15.

Jaitley said: "In the last assembly elections in 2013, the BJP got very small percentage of votes (1.54 per cent) in Tripura. Now this time it is a big political force… every day, every minute, the BJP continues to expand its base."

Attacking the Manik Sarkar-led Left government, he said: "Following their party ideology and unrealistic approach, the Left government in Tripura kept the investment away from the industry starved states. I believe that centre and state should work together to remove the regional disparities."

"Transparent public employment is necessary to provide basic services to the people. Compared to other smaller states, Tripura is lagging far behind in many sectors," he said, also alleging Left party cadre and party-nominated employees dictated governance.

He said that after the BJP come to power in Tripura, it would do justice to the government employees by hiking the salaries as per the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, while talking steps for socio-economic and cultural development of the state’s tribals.

He said that the BJP government wants development of human capital and to fulfil this plan at least one degree college would be set up in each assembly segment in Tripura to improve higher education.

In the 28-page "Vision Document", the BJP pledged to provide one employment opportunity to every household, free education for women till graduation, free smatphones to youths, increase of minimum wages to Rs 340, a probe into the chit fund activities and regularising all contractual government employees.