NAGPUR, Nov 6: The former Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and senior Congress leader Nashikrao Tirpude, on Wednesday appealed to Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to initiate an official resolution in support of a separate Vidarbha state in the ensuing winter session of the State Legislature in Nagpur from next month.

In a letter addressed to the Chief Minister, Tirpude, who is also the founder president of Vidarbha Vikas Mahasabha, an organisation which has been fighting for the causes of Vidarbha, pointed out that the Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, had promised that if the coalition government failed to remove the backlog of backward Vidarbha region within the next two years, he himself would support the demand for separate statehood.

``Now only two months have remained for the completion of two years of coalition government and during the period, the government failed to remove the huge backlog of the region'', he said and urged that the Sena supremo should now fulfill his promise.

According to him, the Backlog Committee appointed by the state Governor, had said in its report in June this year that there were development backlogs of Rs 15,355.77 crore in the state and of them Rs 6,961.02 crore were in Vidarbha region alone. ``It seems that this huge backlog cannot be removed in a short span, and hence there is no alternative but a separate Vidarbha state for the overall development of the region'', he said.

Tirpude felt that the real backlogs in the region would be more than Rs 15,000 crore by the end of this year. The Vidarbha Vikas Mahasabha had earlier pointed out that the Dandekar Committee did not assess the backlogs of industrial development, co-operation, rural electrification etc of the region during its survey conducted in the early 80s.

The findings of the Dandekar Committee were also challenged by the Mahasabha during the period. The senior Congress leader said despite the suggestions of Dandekar Committee that 85 per cent of the development funds of the state annual budget be used for the removal of backlogs, hardly 15 per cent was spent on it during the period.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.