Centre did enough for unemployed in UP: Kalraj

In a bid to counter UP CM Mayawati’s statement blaming the Centre for not creating employment opportunities in the state, senior BJP leader and party MP Kalraj Mishra today said the Centre had initiated employment-oriented projects worth several crores of rupees throughout the country and UP was getting a lion’s share.

‘‘The BSP, Congress and SP should first look at the projects undertaken in different states including UP before levelling charges. The Centre has launched a number of people’s welfare-oriented schemes,’’ Mishra said on Sunday. He said the NDA Government under PM A.B. Vajpayee had initiated several employment-oriented schemes such as PM’s Rozgar Yojana and National Highway Development Scheme generating employment opportunities for several lakhs and involving an expenditure of thousand of crores.

He added that 11.97 lakh self-help groups were formed generating employment avenues for 32.98 lakh people during 1999-2002. Asked why such charges were levelled by Mayawati, Mishra said the state may have asked for some kind of an economic package from the Centre but could not get it owing to a resource crunch.