The three-day “Sadbhavana Mission” fast Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had held in Ahmedabad last September “to spread peace, unity and harmony” cost the State exchequer Rs.1.57 crore.
This information was given — based on inputs provided by various departments of the State government — by principal secretary to the Governor, Arvind Joshi.
Mahagujarat Janata Party's State unit president Gordhan Jhadafiya, through a letter to Governor Kamala Beniwal, had demanded to know the “burden” Mr. Modi's “political gimmick” to earn mileage in the Assembly elections had caused to the State exchequer.
Mr. Joshi's letter to him dated March 22 was released by Mr. Jhadafiya on Saturday. It was the first time any figure had been released officially in connection with the expenses made from the State exchequer for hosting Mr. Modi's controversial fast at the sprawling centrally air-conditioned Gujarat University convention centre in September, last year.
State officials said the government organised Mr. Modi's fast at the “direction” of the Central government. Mr. Joshi's letter quoted the State government claiming various Central Ministries had been issuing “instructions” from time to time to organise programmes for national unity and strengthening communal harmony in the country. It, however, did not quote any “instruction” from the Centre to that effect.
Mr. Joshi said the financial information provided by the government to Raj Bhavan was “tentative.” The State government claimed the Gujarat University was not made to suffer any financial losses as alleged. The University provides the convention centre on rent for organising various programmes and accordingly it was hired for five days to hold the fast, for which the State's Roads and Buildings department had paid the full rent of Rs. 30 lakh. It said various State departments were involved in organising the fast, the highest expenditure for which was Rs. 86.81 lakh made by the roads and buildings department, followed by Rs. 64.34 lakh by the State's Information and Broadcasting department, Rs. 4.97 lakh by the State's Sports, Youth and Cultural Activities department, Rs.86,832 by the Industries and Mines department, Rs.46,800 by the Narmada Water Supply and Water Resources department and only Rs. 2,434 by the General Administration department.
Keywords: Narendra Modi, Sadbhavana Mission
@S.N.Iyer: Court works at its own pace, no politician has ability to influence how court works. So if you find delays in the way court functions, there is nothing much Modi can do to help that. The conviction rate for post Godhra riots is much greater than any riots elsewhere in the country. So yes, there is speedy action and you can do some research to confirm this. Modi has already expressed his sadness over the burning of train at Godhra and riots that followed. What else are you expecting from him? See, I am a Gujarati voter and prefer to rely on facts and figures to make decisions. You have asked many questions but most of them seem to be emotional rather than based on actual facts.
Gujarat government spent 157 lakhs on a fast?!! The treasury would be richer if the Chief Minister ate instead. Mr Chief Minister, why don't you ensure that every tax paying resident of Gujarat goes without an empty stomach before you decide to go empty with yours? When no city in India has 24hours water or electricity supply, how can these people apportion state resources like this? It is insulting to the tax payer.
The whole Sadbhavan fast was an attempt to promote Mr MOdi with his party higher ups for a national t role in the party. In what way did he promote unity among all communities when he refused to allow a group of people to present him a memorandum on the minorities who suffered at the hands of the Govt during 2002/3 riots? Why were only some selected and carefully chosen people allowed to greet him and have photo ops to be displayed in all the papers? Why couldnt he express his sympathy for those affected and promise speedy action to help them instead of using the Court and legal proceedings to delay any action on his Govt's inaction and find a remedy for those affected. This would have served the purpose of the sadbhavan mission and the money could have been spent to alleviate the ose who were affected. It was nothing more than a good ad campaign to promote himself!
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