Jairam Ramesh, Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 26: Orissa’s foe-turned-friend, Union rural development minister Jairam Ramesh appears to be leveraging his position as the dispenser of central funds to states for schemes under his ministry to cement his relations with chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

This is evident from his latest missive to Naveen on the release of funds for the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). The letter despatched yesterday points to the less-than-satisfactory utilisation of funds by the state but Ramesh goes on to add magnanimously that he has still issued orders for releasing the first instalment of NRDWP funds to Orissa for 2011-12. The letter refers to the fact that on April 1 this year, the state had an opening NRDWP balance of Rs 145.27 crore but of this amount, only Rs 30.60 crore or 21.6 per cent has been utilised so far. The state is also yet to submit the reconciled audited statements of expenditure for 2008-09 and 2009-10.

But then, a friendly and generous Ramesh proceeds to break the good news to the chief minister. “In spite of less-than-satisfactory utilisation of available funds and non-submission of reconciled audited statements of expenditure for 2008-09 and 2009-10, I have now directed the ministry to release the first instalment of NRDWP funds for 2011-12 to your state amounting to Rs 107 crore.”

Ramesh, who had several brushes with the Naveen Patnaik government in his previous avatar as Union minister for forest and environment when he nixed major industrial and mining projects such as Vedanta alumina refinery expansion and bauxite mining in Niyamgiri, has been trying hard in the recent past to change his anti-Orissa image while cultivating the chief minister personally. Though he did win hearts in the Biju Janata Dal, when he gave the much-awaited go ahead to the controversial Posco steel project towards the end of his tenure at the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) tenure, his relations with Naveen still remained frozen.

Ramesh began cultivating the Orissa chief minister seriously after taking charge of the rural development ministry which, as compared to the MoEF, has much greater resources at its command. During his recent visit to the state, he held a 40-minute meeting with Naveen, perhaps the longest-ever between the two leaders. The trip also gave Ramesh the opportunity to assure the people who matter that he indeed was a friend of the state.

His missive then seems to be an attempt to carry forward the goodwill generated during his last Orissa visit. But Ramesh has also sought to caution the chief minister that the second instalment of NRDWP funds to the state for 2011-12 would be released only after it submits utilisation certificate showing 60 per cent utilisation during the year and meets certain other conditions.

The conditions include submission of NRDWP audit report from the auditor general for 2008-09 and 2009-10 reconciled with the utilisation certificate for the corresponding period and an audited statement of accounts of the State Water and Sanitation Mission from a CAG-empanelled chartered accountant.

“I would request you to kindly instruct the concerned officers to submit the above documents latest by October 31, 2011, to ensure that the second instalment of NRDWP funds is released to the state,” Ramesh urged Naveen conveying to his friend his “warm personal regards.”