AHMEDABAD, DECEMBER 23: A division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice C K Thakkar and Justice D P Buch, of Gujarat High Court issued a show cause notice to the State Government as well as the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation asking them to explain why the PIL against wasteful expenditure on millennium celebrations should not be admitted and direction be issued. The notice is returnable on December 28.The petition filed by three unions - Bandhkam Mazdoor Mandal, Eklavya Sangathan and Van Mazdoor Mandal - stated that in their enthusiasm to celebrate the new millennium, the Government and the AMC have absolutely forgotten their duties towards the state.It submitted that about 40 per cent of the people in the state still do not get drinking water and electricity is still not available in many villages. Gujarat is not 100 per cent literate and the goal of 100 per cent literacy is far away. It is the duty of the state to spend funds in such a way that all these goals are achieved and the people can reapbenefits, it said.However, instead of making efforts in this direction, the Government has completely ignored its primary duties. The petition also said that acute water shortage in Falla village of Jamnagar district led to scuffle and riots. The Government inhumanly resorted to firing and three people were killed, it added.
