“Meghalaya has increased its fund absorption under JJM, PMAY, capital investment, and has received bonus”
Shillong, Feb 10: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Friday asserted the need to streamline the guidelines of the DoNER Ministry to pave the way for increasing the funds’ absorption capacity in the Northeastern States.
“NEC has its guidelines and procedures, but if the Ministry would streamline those then we would be able to utilize funds at a much faster pace. We have to do the homework to ensure a smooth flow of funds,” he said.
On Thursday, NEC Secretary K Moses Chalai had remarked that the fund absorption capacity by the Northeastern States including Meghalaya is not up to the mark.
Disagreeing with the NEC official, the Chief Minister said, “If Meghalaya’s absorption capacity was not upto the mark then we would not be able to absorb Rs 700 crore to now Rs 2,000 crore. If Meghalaya’s absorption capacity is not there then in the Jal Jeevan Mission we would not be able to absorb Rs 1300 crore, which we are getting this year including a bonus every year in JJM.”
He further said that under PMAY 1.40 lakh houses were completed in the last financial year, which is pegged at around Rs. 300 crore. “We have utilised close to Rs. 1200 crore under PMAY this year, which is higher compared to the past 20 years. Therefore, it is not as simple as mentioned by certain officials,” he added.
On NEC funds, the Chief Minister said, “There are lots of guidelines and lots of provisions that are there in the NEC and DoNER Ministry, which I have already been flagged in the NEC meeting.”
“For example, once we start a project and suppose we have to change the scope of work, due to soil conditions or some pending permission, the process to get revised approval takes months. In some cases, they would send back the proposal to the department concerned and the Ministry for their views, which completely delays the process,” he added.
“Therefore, you will see that in NEC and DoNER, most states are not able to absorb because of the different kinds of provisions that are there. They do their homework, as I said if the absorption capacity was not there then we would not be able to absorb either JJM or the PMAY or the special assistance on capital investment”.
Informing that NEC’s budget for the entire NE States is merely Rs 1900 crore, the Chief Minister further justified that if the absorption capacity of Meghalaya was poor, then under the capital investment fund, Meghalaya would have not been able to utilise Rs 2000 crore.
He also lamented that NEC has taken a lot of time to clear a proposal on turmeric mission amounting to Rs. 5 crore.
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