"Ashok Gehlot Only Did Work Of Delaying And Diverting Schemes": Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India]: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that Eastern Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) will guarantee water to the public for the next 40-50 years and former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot only did the work of delaying, diverting and stalling the schemes.

On Sunday, the second day of the East Rajasthan Canal Project (ERCP) Abhar Yatra, Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma held meetings in Dholpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk and Jaipur districts.

"Once there was abundant underground water available here, but now it has gone into the abyss. A big water crisis has arisen. Atal ji's government had brought the river linking project, in which Parvati-Kalisindh-Chambal was to be linked, but no consensus was reached between Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Atal ji's government could not be formed again in 2004 and the Congress led UPA government suspended it for 10 years. In the year 2016, Vasundhara ji deviated from this and conceptualized ERCP, but unfortunately in the year 2018, her government went away," he said.

"Before the assembly elections, I had travelled to all the 13 districts including Alwar to Jaipur. I had told how the Gehlot government of Rajasthan is using ERCP as a political weapon.

How politics is being played with the dry throats of three and a half crore people and lakhs of farmers. In a democracy, playing with the interests of the people is considered as a sin. ERCP will guarantee water to the public for the next 40-50 years," he added.

Shekhawat also expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma for working at a fast pace.

The Union Jal Shakti Minister further said that in the year 2019, only 16 percent of the rural homes in the country had access to water through pipelines and 19 crore 40 lakh families in the country live in rural areas.

"My parents had to walk 5-10 kilometres daily to get water. The Prime Minister started Jal Jeevan Mission to free them from this. Despite the Corona disaster and water being a state subject, drinking water has reached 100 percent of households in 10 provinces in the country.

Today, tap water has started reaching 75 percent of rural homes. Considering the circumstances of Rajasthan, maximum resources were made available here, but for the previous Congress government, bringing change in the lives of the poor or making plans for them was not a priority. The priority for them was how the vote bank could be increased," Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said.

He further attacked former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and said that "He only did the work of delaying, diverting and stalling the schemes. Rajasthan was given Rs 27,000 crore, but it spent only Rs 6,000 crore, which also created a storm of corruption. The people of the state punished him and threw him down from the chair of power."