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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | ‘N-E funds unused’

‘N-E funds unused’

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published Published on May 25, 2010   modified Modified on May 25, 2010


Against the backdrop of allegations about under-utilisation of funds in the Northeast, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today bemoaned this trend, while claiming that the current Union government has made allocations to the region like never before.

“All I can say is that our government has increased very substantially the allocations for the development of infrastructure in the northeastern region. I think the amount of money that we have allocated has never been allocated before,” the Prime Minister said at a national news conference on the first anniversary of United Progressive Alliance-II.

“It is the solemn obligation of the state governments of Northeast and the people of the Northeast to pool their wisdom, knowledge and experience to see that these funds are properly utilised,” he said.

“There are leakages in programmes and schemes. You cannot deny that. It had been and is the endeavour of the government to rectify these,” Singh told reporters.

A separate ministry of DoNER was carved out during the reign of the UPA-I.

Funds are also allocated to the North Eastern Council. In fact, 10 per cent of plan funds from every ministry is earmarked for the non-lapsable central pool of resources that the DoNER ministry manages. However, great chunks from the central funds are siphoned off and do not reach the ground.

Singh’s indication was that monitoring should be done locally too, although there is a task force now in place in the PMO to monitor central projects in the Northeast.

Reacting to Singh’s comments, executive director of Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi, Amiya Sharma, said in Guwahati: “What the Prime Minister has said is correct. Utilisation of funds is not proper and that is why departments cannot give utilisation certificates for getting the second instalment.”

Allegations have been raised by various quarters in the past. For instance, the Assam Human Development Report had said a few years back: “The fiscal crisis along with diversion and inefficient utilisation of funds does not allow the state to invest for strengthening the foundations for economic growth and improving social achievement. This has resulted in an unsustainable level of indebtedness.”

“The recent spurt in India’s economic growth has been made possible by a very substantial increase of plan funds allocated to panchayati raj institutions and some to urban local bodies under various schemes and programmes. For effective and efficient utilisation of such funds, the delivery system has to be properly strengthened,” said the Third Assam State Finance Commission in its report. The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs has also criticised the DoNER ministry for neglecting the utilisation of funds.

The parliamentary standing committee, on the 145th report on Demands for Grants (2010-2011) of DoNER which was placed in the first week of Lok Sabha, said: “The committee is not convinced with the argument given by the DoNER ministry justifying delay. The committee is also not satisfied with the reply given by the ministry in which it has been argued that the states of the region are responsible for under-utilisation in plan allocation to the non-lapsable central pool of resources.”


The Telegraph, 25 May, 2010, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100525/jsp/frontpage/story_12485065.jsp


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