Port Blair:
BJP President Nitin Gadkari today said the black money stashed in foreign banks should bebrought to the country to channelize the amount into development works. Besides providing basic amenities like drinking water, power, laying roads and providing better healthcare facilities for the common man, such huge amount of cash can safely meet the requirement of the farmers and the people living below poverty line, Gadkari told reporters here. The BJP chief has come to the islands for a party function. Claiming that the UPA government was not disclosing names of persons having accumulated black money in foreign banks, he said that while Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi said black money deposited by Indians in the banks of foreign countries should be brought to the country, his party was not serious about the issue. On January 30, Gandhi defended the UPA at Aurangabad saying "it is wrong that the government is not making efforts to bring the black money back to India." Last week, while outlining the government's strategy to tackle the menace of black money and on the stashing of ill-gotten wealth overseas, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said though there are no reliable estimates of black money generated by Indians within and outside the country, it is roughly estimated between Rs 500 billion and Rs 1,400 billion. Though all steps were being taken to bring it back, the names cannot be revealed yet, Mukherjee had said onJanuary 25.