"It is said there has been good urban development in Bihar... It looks good from outside, but the truth is that money is not being spent on urban development in Bihar. It is unable to utilise central funds," Minister of State for Urban Development Deepa Dasmunsi said in the Lok Sabha.
She said in the transport sector, the Centre has approved purchase of several buses for use in Patna, but not a single bus has been procured.
Dasmunsi said Bihar is the least urbanised state in the country and criticised the government for not carrying out reforms in urban development.
Quoting from a recent report of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), she said the state had taken up eight projects under the scheme and had not submitted utilisation certificates for any of them.
"The ministry is ready to release funds as supplementary support from the Centre, but if the state does not submit utilisation certificates, we cannot release the second installment," she said to queries from Jagadanand Singh (RJD). RJD's arch-rival JD(U) runs a coalition government in Bihar.
She praised UP, where Samajwadi Party is in power, for carrying out reforms in urban development.
Of the 33 projects sanctioned for Uttar Pradesh, all the four installments of central assistance have been released for 18 projects.