Uttar Pradesh has funds for Mercedes cars and Land Cruisers, not women’s panel

Lucknow: Misplaced priorities seem to be becoming the bane of the Akhilesh Yadav government in Uttar Pradesh.

A query by a RTI activist in Lucknow has revealed that while the state government is short on funds for the State Women’s Commission it has ample funds to purchase two seven-seater Mercedes cars and two Land Cruisers.

The question put up by social activist Urvashi Sharma had yielded the information that since the past three years, the state has slashed the budgetary allocations made to the state women’s panel.
The state government admitted that between 2011-12 and 2013-14, the budget of the women’s panel was cut by over 85 percent.

In 2011-12, the commission got Rs 5.1 crore in financial grants which went down to Rs 4.16, crore of which Rs 3.9 crore was spent.

In 2013-14, the allocation was further slashed to a mere Rs 75 lakh.

“I am amazed at the reduction in funds for the women’s panel more so, at a time when crime against women in UP is increasing rapidly,” Ms Sharma said. She further pointed out that if the state  was facing funds crunch, then what explains the need for Mercedes and Land Cruisers.