“The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has written to the prime minister requesting him to give Centre’s permission for the creation of a separate Poorvanchal state and expediting the constitutional procedure in that regard,” Additional Cabinet Secretary Vijay Shanker Pandey said.

The state government had earlier through a letter, sent in March last year, apprised the Centre of its clear opinion on carving out a separate Poorvanchal state, Pandey said.
“The government had also expressed its clear opinion on this issue in the state assembly on October 31, 2007.

Once the permission is received, the state government of Uttar Pradesh will get a resolution for Poorvanchal state passed in the assembly and forward it to the Centre,” Pandey  said.

Better administration
Pandey said the Bahujan Samaj Party chief in her letter has said that creation of Poorvanchal was necessary for better administrative management and keeping in mind the expectations and aspirations of the local populace.

“The chief minister has repeatedly stated that she was in favour of smaller states and supports creation of a separate Poorvanchal state,” he said.
The additional cabinet secretary said, Mayawati in her letter pointed out that the Poorvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh was very backward socially and economically.

Imbalances
“To remove regional imbalance and to accelerate development of the state incorporating the needs of Poorvanchal region, the state government had earlier forwarded a proposal to the Centre requesting it to sanction a special package of Rs 80,000 crore,” he said.
Pandey said Mayawati in her letter also requested Singh to get the required financial assistance sanctioned at the earliest.

“It is not possible to meet the development demands of the state from internal resources, therefore a special package had been demanded,” he said.
On December 11, Mayawati had sought the Centre's consent for the creation of separate states of Bundelkhand and Paschimanchal.