Patna, July 25: Charging the Nitish Kumar government with being ‘anti-minorities’, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Salman Khurshid today said it had failed to take advantage of Multi-Sectoral Development Programme (MSDP).
“The Bihar government’s apathetic attitude towards implementing minority welfare schemes had caused a setback to the implementation of the minority welfare programmes in the state,” Khurshid told reporters here.
Rs 523.20 crore were allocated to the state for taking measures to improve the lot of the minorities, particularly Muslims during the 11th plan period but more than 50 per cent of the funds allocated by the Centre for development of Minority Concentration Districts (MCDs) remained unutilsed.
Quoting from his July 9 letter to Kumar, Khurshid said the Centre had so far released Rs 122.28 crore under MSDP. The state government had, however, submitted expenditure report of just Rs 23.49 crore as on June 30 which is just 19.
–Agencies