Ramesh warns of zero tolerance for graft in rural development schemes

Bhubaneswar, Aug.15 (ANI): Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that graft in rural development schemes and policies would not be tolerated at any cost.

Interacting with media here on Sunday, Ramesh said incidents of financial irregularity in village development programmes would be taken seriously.

"There is a lot of concern in different parts of the country that in rural development spending there is a lot of corruption, leakage. I am aware of all these criticisms and arguments. I will take them seriously and I will not compromise when we have firm and irrefutable evidence that money is not being spent," said Ramesh.

He also asserted that the fight against the Maoist ultras cannot be won only through paramilitary and police forces. He said to achieve this objective the government has to use rural development as a tool to win the trust and confidence of the people.

"We have to use rural development to win the trust and confidence of the people; we cannot fight Maoism only through paramilitary and police forces. They are important, they play a very important role, paramilitary forces and police have to play a very important role. Simultaneously, side by side, we must use rural development programmes to win the trust and confidence of the people, particularly in tribal communities, who are alienated from the government for a variety of reasons," he said.

Ramesh was on a three day visit to the state to analyse the rural development schemes being implemented in different districts of the state.

Maoists have gripped nearly one-third of the country in their violent tentacles, spreading into the interiors of 20 of India's 28 states.

The guerrilla war, waged mostly from the forests of central and eastern India by ultras of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, now poses the biggest internal security challenge, say analysts.

Hundreds of people have been killed and injured in the violence perpetrated by the rebels as well as in counter-insurgency operations by the security forces.

Maoists have also significantly increased their presence in tribal and rural regions in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa. (ANI)