Harish Rawat seeks Centre's approval for Uttarakhand budget

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat today asked the Centre to give its assent to the budget passed by the state Assembly, saying development goals set for the year could not be achieved without the approval.

“We urge the Centre to shed its intransigence over the issue and give its assent to the budget which documents our vision for the state’s development, our development goals set for the year will remain unachieved without it,” Rawat told reporters here.

When asked about the Central government’s argument that the budget could not be passed by the state Assembly as his government had been reduced to a minority, Rawat said the argument did not hold after his government won the floor test.

He also accused the Centre of deliberately witholding the budget and stalling all development work in Uttarakhand.

Rawat said he was fighting mainly against the possibility of one year of zero development in Uttarakhand.

My insistence on the Centre giving to give assent to the state’s annual budget passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly was a step in that direction.