In 4 years, Modi govt released only one-third of pledged amount for cleaning up Ganga: RTI disclosure
Details show, over the past four years of NDA rule, its flagship Namami Gange Programme has received a little over only Rs 6,000 crore from the pledged sum of Rs 20,000 crore for rejuvenation of Ganga.
In Short
- NMCG was incorporated on August 12, 2011 under Congress-led UPA government
- It was re-launched by Bharatiya Janata Party after coming to power
- Amount released by GoI till June 30, 2018 is no where close to money pledged for project
Latest information obtained through Right to Information (RTI) has revealed that Modi government has released less than one-third of the amount pledged towards cleaning up of Ganga river. Details show over the past four years of NDA rule, its flagship Namami Gange Programme has received a little over only Rs 6,000 crore from the pledged sum of Rs 20,000 crore for rejuvenation of the river.
What has come up as a surprise is the fact that this amount has not been spent by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG). Even the attempt by Modi government to attract private participation has also not met with much success.
The NMCG was incorporated on August 12, 2011 under the Congress-led UPA government. But, it was re-launched by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after coming to the power. The Namami Gange Programme is an Integrated Conservation Mission, approved as 'Flagship Programme' by the Union Government in June 2014 with budget outlay of Rs 20,000 crore to accomplish the twin objectives of effective abatement of pollution, conservation and rejuvenation of Ganga.
The amount released by the Government of India (GoI) till June 30, 2018 is no where close to the money pledged for the project. Modi government had announced setting up of an Integrated Ganga Conservation Mission called "Namami Gange" and an initial sum of Rs 2,037 crore was allocated in the Union Budget 2014-15. But RTI details show that only Rs 326 crore were released for this purpose during this financial year.
As per data obtained by a Punjab-based RTI activist Dinesh Chadha, Centre has released only Rs 6,211.27 cores to clean up Ganga. The NMCG authority has not been able to fully utilise even this amount. Data shows that NMCG has spent only Rs 4,322.37 crore out of the total amount allocated to it by the Centre.
The RTI details also show that during four years of NDA regime the total allocation for the project has been Rs 5,523.22 crore, while the NMCG spent only Rs 3,867.48 crore out of this amount. While under the previous UPA government the total allocation between 2011-12 was a meagre Rs 688.05 crore while the amount spent by NMCG was only Rs 454.89 crore.
CLEAN GANGA FUND
NMCG was incorporated on August 12, 2011 under Congress-led UPA government
It was re-launched by Bharatiya Janata Party after coming to power
Amount released by GoI till June 30, 2018 is no where close to money pledged for project
Clean Ganga Fund started by the Centre to attract domestic as well as international citizens to donate for the cause of cleaning up of the river has met with little success.
Data available till July 27, 2018 shows that only Rs 10.71 crore was donated by resident Indians while Rs 3.81 crore was received from NRIs/PIOs and Overseas Indians. Under CSR, the initiative has failed to attract private companies.
Only Rs 25.61 crore has been donated by the private companies that were expected to adopt ghats, pilot new technologies, conduct research and get involved in creating awareness about the mission.
The largest contribution to this fund has come from the Public Sector Units (PSU). The PSUs have donated Rs 200.79 crore so far to this cause.
Read more on Ganga:
Reality check: Modi govt's Namami Gange project a non-starter