New Delhi, July 28 - Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi Tuesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urged him to set up a separate development authority for Bundelkhand region, which spans Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

'Legislators and leaders from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi met the prime minister. We have demanded a separate development authority for Bundelkhand region,' Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh told reporters after the meeting.

Singh said Gandhi also demanded that all the funds for development of the region be channelised through this authority so that poverty there can be eradicated at the earliest. 'These steps are necessary to check the worsening situation in the region which is reeling under poverty, illiteracy and underdevelopment,' he said.

Gandhi had visited the region last year and termed it on the verge of collapse. Blaming the Mayawati government for the conditions in the region, he said the local administration had failed to deliver, forcing people to migrate from the area.

Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Union Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain and Congress leaders from both the states were part of the delegation.