Congress calls Shivraj's cabinet meeting in Pachmarhi as an event

Bhopal, March 26 (IANS) Congress leader and former Minister Kamleshwar Patel called Shivraj Singh Chouhan's ongoing two-day brainstorming cabinet meeting at hill station Pachmarhi as an event. The Congress leader alleged that for the last two years, the BJP government has been more focused on event management than the serious challenges the state is facing.

Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in Bhopal on Saturday, Patel questioned Shivraj Singh Chouhan's decision to hold a cabinet meeting in a hotel in Pachmarhi instead in Bhopal. He demanded that the state government should tell the people how much money was invested for BJP's event.

"If Shivraj Singh Chouhan is really serious about the development of Madhya Pradesh, he would not have invested public money for event management, instead he could have held meetings at the secretariat office or his official residence as it always happens," Patel said.

He further alleged that the BJP led Madhya Pradesh government failed to provide scholarships to the students belonging to ST, SC and OBC categories for the past two years. "Recently Rs 318 crore was released for scholarship, whereas it requires around Rs 1,200 crore. More than 35,000 primary schools have been shut in the past two years and teachers who were earning for their livelihood are now unemployed," Patel said.

During the Congress government, primary schools were opened under Sarva Siksha Abhiyan to provide education to the poor children, but all those schools were closed and now the BJP government has introduced a new concept -- CM Rise Schools. "It would have been better if those existing schools were redeveloped and teachers have been appointed. But, for his own event management, the chief minister invested around Rs 7,000 crore. This huge amount of money could have been utilized for other purposes," he added.

A two-day brainstorming cabinet meeting is underway at a hotel in Pachmarhi. The cabinet meeting will conclude on Sunday evening.