Ganga conservation in Jaitley's list of priorities

New Delhi, July 10 (IANS) Cleaning Ganga, linking of rivers and beautification of river banks were on top of the agenda of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who set aside Rs.2,037 crore for an integrated Ganga development project in the union budget 2014-2015.

The project will focus on conservation and improvement of the 2,525 km river flowing from the Himalayas and to the Bay of Bengal and considered holy by the Hindus.

"I propose to set up integrated Ganga conservation mission called 'Namami Ganga' and set aside a sum of Rs.2,037 crore for this purpose," said Jaitley who presented his maiden budget Thursday.

He announced Rs.100 crore for linking of rivers which, he said, can give "rich dividends" to the country.

"Unfortunately the country is not uniformly blessed with perennial rivers. Therefore, an effort to link the rivers can give rich dividends to the country. It is time that we made a serious effort to move in this direction. To expedite the preparation of the detailed project reports, I propose to set aside a sum of Rs.100 crore," Jaitley said.

To beautify the river ghats or banks, which he termed "historical heritage" of the country, Jaitley doled out Rs.100 crore in the budget.

"I propose to set aside a sum of Rs.100 crore for ghat development and beautification of river front at Kedarnath, Haridwar, Kanpur, Varanasi, Allahabad, Patna and Delhi in the current financial year," said Jaitley.

He announced that a NRI fund for conservation of river Ganga will be set up.

"To harness their (NRI) enthusiasm to contribute toward the conservation of river Ganga, an NRI fund for Ganga will be set up which will finance special projects," Jaitley said.