"The propaganda by some human right organisations that the development of Saranda is to bring private companies is wrong," Ramesh told a press conference here.
"Their claim of using World Bank funds to develop those areas is also wrong. We are not spending dollars, we are spending Indian rupees," Ramesh said in reply to a query.
Asserting that his ministry desired to see a developed rural Jharkhand, the minister said he had spoken to Chief Minister Arjun Munda to empower the rural elected bodies and allow them to spend money on development projects.
"Jharkhand had elections to the panchayat bodies after 32 years, but so far panchayats have not been given the power to spend money for development. They should be empowered soon," Ramesh said, apparently to speed up Centrally-sponsored programmes in the rural areas.
Not satisfied with Jharkhand using only Rs 1,200 crore in the demand-driven MG-NREGA funds last fiscal, Ramesh advised the state to attach renovation of ponds to the MG-NREGA programmes this fiscal, which would help farmers conserve water round-the-year.
