Agartala March 21 (IANS) The Central government has promised to invest Rs 2 587 crore in various schemes and projects in Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said here on Wednesday.
Deb who returned from a two-day visit from the national capital along with Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarma said they had met President Ram Nath Kovind Prime Minister Narendra Modi Home Minister Rajnath Singh Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh and other ministers on the state s problems.
"During my two-day stay in the national capital I met more than 12 Central ministers and discussed various central schemes as well as problems of Tripura. As per the ministers assurances Rs 2 587 crore would be spent in different urban rural and educational schemes and projects " he told media persons here.
The implementation of a range of central schemes and projects would create employment opportunities for 12 200 youth he said.
Deb said that the previous Left Front government did not conduct proper geo-tagging of assets created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or submit utilisation certificates of many central schemes resulting in crores of funds being held up.
"The ministers have assured me to release Rs 214 crore under MGNREGA Rs 350 crore under Special Plan Assistance Rs 241 crore under urban development schemes and Rs 292 crore under housing scheme by next week " he said adding that since the Bharatiya Janata Party is now ruling both in Tripura and at the centre there would be no problem of funding.
He said that he had also held discussions over phone with Union Road and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari who assured to undertake the works for the development of various National Highways in the state at an investment of Rs 12 000 crore. This would also ensure direct or indirect employment for 15 000 to 20 000 youth.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram assured Rs 384 crore for setting up 24 Eklavya model residential schools and associated hostels in tribal areas over the next three years in addition to the recurring central funding of Rs 50 crore annualy while Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan promised providing 25 000 connections per month under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme for free LPG connections for cooking.
Referring his discussion with the Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh Deb said that the state s world famous "Queen variety Pineapple" would be made available across the country and abroad.
Agreeing to the demand of setting up an institute under Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET) Union Chemical and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar also assured to ensure direct employment to about 5 000 youth annually and agreed in principle ed use of personal data from the social media giant.
As the firestorm over the issue hit India the government warned Facebook which is being probed by US and British lawmakers over a potential breach of user confidentiality of stringent action if any attempt was made to influence the country s electoral process through "undesirable means".
However the company s India partner Oveleno Business Intelligence (OBI) lists the BJP the Congress and the JD-U as its clients. The India partner is by Amrish Tyagi son of senior JD-U leader K.C. Tyagi. In media interviews the junior Tyagi admitted that the Youth Congress in Jharkhand the BJP and the JD-U had used its services to conduct research.
BJP leader and Union Law and IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cited media reports to allege that the Congress was using the services of the London-based political data analytics firm for the next Lok Sabha election and boost its president Rahul Gandhi s social media profile and its outreach.
"The Congress must explain if it has engaged in data trade with Cambridge Analytica " the minister said.
He said the number of Gandhi s followers on Twitter had risen recently and wondered if the Congress had used the services of the Cambridge Analytica for this "fake popularity".
"Will the Congress now depend on data manipulation and theft to woo voters " Prasad asked.
"These days there is a lot of news about CA and how it has been involved in data theft psychometric analysis data manipulation and subversion of democratic processes. Can the Congress deny that?" he asked.
The Congress returned the fire and accused the BJP of having availed the firm s services in 2010.
"The Congress or its President have never used or hired the services of Cambridge Analytica " Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.
"This is fake agenda a white lie being dished out on fake facts by the Law Minister. And this has become a daily order with Prasad."
Surjewala alleged it was the BJP and its ally Janata Dal-United which used the services of Cambridge Analytica.
"I think the BJP and Ravi Shankar Prasadji have the maximum experience of Cambridge Analytica the company they say has indulged in manipulation."
Surjewala cited the firm s website saying that it "was contracted to undertake an in-depth electoral analysis for Bihar assembly elections in 2010".
"If the company does manipulation why were the BJP and the JD-U using it. But in his pack of lies he forgot to tell the truth."
Citing media reports the BJP leader asked the Congress to clarify whether the now-sacked CA CEO Alexender Nix had met several opposition leaders to plan the UPA s election strategy for 2019.
"How many times did Rahul Gandhi and Nix meet and what did they discuss? What is the CA s role in Rahul Gandhi s social media presence?
"It is a matter of grave concern for crores of online users in India that online data and browsing patterns are being used for such means. I want to specifically warn the Congress that the nation will not tolerate any kind of data theft or manipulation in India."
He asked the "Grand Old Party" how much stolen data from Cambridge Analytica was in its possession and how much data of Indian users had been handed over to the firm by the Congress.
Alleging that the firm had been found using illegal means of data manipulation to subvert the democratic process in Kenya Prasad said the Congress was aligning with such forces to divide the society and win elections.
Prasad speaking about the concerns being raised over Cambridge Analytica influencing election results said the government was in touch with the US Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice to assess the privacy violations of Indian users.
"We will also summon the company and Facebook to assess the data theft of Indian users and will take strictest action."
Prasad reminded Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg of powers of India s IT Act saying "you better note the observation of the IT Minister of India".
"If any data theft of Indians is done with the collusion of Facebook systems it will not be tolerated. We have got stringent powers in the IT Act including summoning you in India."
--IANS
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