Catering to its Dalit vote bank, the Bahujan Samaj Party government has sanctioned Rs 1,250 crore for construction of roads in Ambedkar villages that were identified in the party's last three regimes but where work had come to a halt with the fall of the party's governments. A highly placed official in the PWD told 'The Pioneer' that the government had decided to construct pucca roads in Ambedkar villages that were identified in the fiscal years 1995-96, 1997-98 and 2002-03. Incidentally, in all these three fiscals, Mayawati was Chief Minister and she had formed government with the support of Bharatiya Janata Party. With the fall of her government, the construction of roads in these villages had come to a halt and the sanctioned money was diverted to other villages. The State Road Management Committee that met on March 31, decided to revive the projects in these villages and sanctioned Rs 1,250 crore for construction and renovation of roads there. "With this money the Ambedkar villages will be connected with the state highways," the official said. In contrast, the same committee sanctioned just Rs 150 crore for construction of roads in 2,500 other villages and Rs 209 crore for special renovation of culverts in villages. The committee sanctioned just Rs 10 crore for construction of roads in industrial areas reflecting the priority of the government. Besides, the government has also sanctioned Rs 10 crore for broadening and beautification of main crossings in the state capital. Though the officials are yet to identify the crossings, these are likely to be those having statues of Dalit icons. Interestingly, the committee, which met under the chairmanship of PWD Minister Naseemuddin Siddiqui, had sanctioned Rs 1,414 crore under State Road Fund for the present fiscal. For the spillover projects (unfinished projects of last fiscal year which need financial support in 2011-12) the committee has allocated additional Rs 250 crore. Two BSP MPs, Ashok Kumar Rawat from Sitapur and Rizwan Ahmad from Basti, had also attended the meeting.