State Control on Public Mind

loan of Rs 80 crore for the completion of the second Hooghly bridge under item (j) is being advanced to the state government, which will be responsible for the repayment of the loan, the implementation of the project is being supervised by a committee dominated by the union government, and the actual construction has been assigned to a consortium of public undertakings owned by the latter Item (k), the loan proposed for the completion of the Salt Lake stadium, is different; it burdens the state government with a responsibility which belongs to it and which it must discharge. Item (I),'on the other hand, is an additional allocation for the ministry of human resources, and the state government has nothing to do with it, while item (m) appears to be an additional allocation to the union ministry of agriculture. Item (n) is a splendid joke, since the union government is not offering a single penny for the Calcutta Electric Supply Cor- poration's Rs 210 crore new unit, the prime minister is only very graciously giving his permission for the project. Exactly the same is the case with item (o); Webel's teleprinter manufacturing plant will cost Rs 6 crore, but the union government is not providing a farthing, it has only consented to issue the necessary letter of intent. Item (p) is an additional allocation once more to New Delhi's ministry of human resources, and item (q) in entirety goes to the ministry of information and broadcasting. Completing the tally is the union government's proposed project to set up a new currency press, which may cost Rs 300 crore. The project has been on and off for the past several years, and the communication from the prime minister's office does not connote any particular change of status; the state government, besides, has no jurisdiction in the matter and no part of the indicated money, even if it ever starts flowing, is to travel towards its direction.