About setting up of steel plant at Dabra near Gwalior, Mr Scidia said the impending obstacles would be removed soon. He said that he talked to Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for setting up a transformer and Mr Chouhan also assured to lay an approach road near the steel plant. Replying to political queries, the Minister said that the success of the Congress and it allies in the recent by-elections in the country was the reflection of the party's pro-poor policy and said the farmers got benefited due to increase of support price by the Congress-led government at the Centre in the last five years. To a query, Mr Scindia said all major political parties including the Congress were facing factionalism.

In a detailed missive sent recently to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Mr Scindia said, ''the establishment of such an office would make the processes much smoother for denizens of the state's northern part. The absence of such an office adversely impacts on the tourism industry, import and export.'' In another letter to Union Surface Transport Minister Kamal Nath, he urged that approval be granted to a four-lane road from the Bina Refinery to the Agra-Mumbai National Highway via Shadora as it was imperative for accelerating development of backward areas.

In a third communication to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Mr Scindia demanded that the range of the Krishi Darshan programme telecast by Gwalior Doordarshan Kendra be expanded to cover Guna, Shivpuri and Ashoknagar districts.