-The Indian Express
Unhappy over the Planning Commission attempt to convert flagship schemes of the Union Ministry for Rural Development from Centrally-sponsored schemes to additional Central assistance schemes, Minister Jairam Ramesh has shot off a strongly-worded letter to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the commission.
Apprehending that such a move will transfer the financial control of schemes such as MGNREGA and PMGSY to the Finance Ministry, Ramesh in his letter said, “The implications of this (move), to my mind, is that the Ministry of Finance would control all (fund) releases and the ministries concerned would be reduced to mere bystanders. I am simply unable to understand the logic for this move.” Ramesh had earlier raised his voice against the move in the meeting of the full Planning Commission last month. “I would request you not to press ahead with this move under any garb,” Ramesh wrote to Ahluwalia.