UP CM Akhilesh slams Centre for providing wrong information about farmers’ payments

Lucknow, July 23 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday accused the Centre of providing wrong information about the payments left for the sugarcane farmers and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clarify that how the payment was only Rs. 175 crores, which according to the state government, is around Rs. 3,000 crores. Addressing a function held to felicitate the scholars in the state capital, Akhilesh said, "They told us that the payment for sugar mill farmers is only Rs. 175 crores in the state. But as per our calculation, Rs. 3000 is still left to be paid to the farmers. I don't know about this amount of Rs.175 crores." The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also expressed his woes for not having his name on the foundation stone of the recently laid Gorakhpur AIIMS. "The Centre asked for 200 acres of land in Gorakhpur. We provided them with the land. But then a PIL was filed against that land and that matter went to the court. The court reserved its order. Therefore, we provided them with another land. However, later on the court got the land free and both were made available," he said. "We got to know that the land was worth Rs. 700 crores. However, the people of Gorakhpur know the land is about Rs. 5,000 per square feet. When they laid the foundation stone of the Rae Bareli AIIMS, they did not call us. Now, when the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the Gorakhpur AIIMS, there was no mention of my name and my government," he added. The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of AIIMS under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,011 crore. The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Modi approved the setting up of the hospital which will have a capacity of 750 beds and also include emergency or trauma and AYUSH sections.