‘Increase funds, complete projects’: Nagaland CM at NEC plenary session

DIMAPUR, JANUARY 23 (MExN): Nagaland Chief Minister, Neiphiu Rio today urged for an increased fund allocation and stressed on the need to complete projects under the aegis of the North East Council (NEC).

Speaking at the 69th plenary session of the NEC in Shillong on Saturday, the Nagaland CM said that the functional autonomy of NEC has been “significantly diluted” and the role of the council’s Governing Body has become “less important.”

Rio noted that the NEC now can sanction projects costing only Rs. 15 Crore and below. He further stated that while the NEC has been around for almost 50 years, the region still has a huge development deficit. He, therefore, called for strengthening the council by bringing out a clear vision for development of the region.

He called for channelizing part of the NLCPR accruals through the NEC in order to meet its committed liabilities to enable it to go for new projects.

‘Highly inappropriate’
The 2020-21 budget allocation of NEC is Rs. 904 crore for all the NE States and out of this 30% is for the deprived areas to be identified by NEC. This comes to Rs 271 crore leaving a balance of Rs 633 crore only, Rio pointed out. This balance amount is to be further divided between the NEC and the constituent States which is worked out to be Rs. 254 crore as central component and Rs. 380 crore for constituent States respectively.

The Nagaland CM said that Rs. 380 crore to be shared between eight constituent states is a miniscule amount and termed this as “highly inappropriate.”

He further stated that there are several projects under implementation which does not have the knowledge or monitoring of the State Governments and have been selected without the consent of the State Governments and the governing body. This procedure, Rio said, has undermined the Governors, Chief Ministers and Members of the Governing Body and has given room to compromises on transparency and good governance.

Another concern shared by the CM was the difficulty faced by NE States in giving State share for various Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS). He therefore urged the DoNER Ministry to provide separate fund allocation to meet the requirement of State share for all CSS projects.

Pandemic’s impact on projects
Meanwhile highlighting the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CM described how States have had to invest heavily in improving health facilities while dealing with its economic effects. In Nagaland, the CM informed that revenues have taken a big hit. While thanking the Centre for extending a helping hand, the CM said that despite this, the State had to dip into its meager resources to meet emergency requirements.

He laid out the measures that the State had to take in boosting the agri and allied sector, skill development and augmenting household income.

The projects to be undertaken in the short run were presented to NEC for funding. Out of the total projects worth Rs. 80.62 crore submitted to NEC, projects worth only Rs. 31.57 crore were approved and only Rs. 7.04 crore has been released so far, the CM said. The CM in particular sought the NEC’s support for the Naga-Integrated settled Farming (N-IsF) proposal.

Another concern highlighted was that ongoing projects supposed to be completed by March 2021 need to be extended due to the pandemic.

It will be impossible to complete the projects before the March 31 deadline, the CM said. He informed that in Nagaland, there is a total balance of Rs. 45.89 crore due from NEC covering 30 projects under MH 3601 (i.e; 90:10 funding) and these cannot be completed within the remaining two months. He therefore urged for a 12 month extension to the deadline.

The CM meanwhile informed the NEC that a major portion of the Utilisation Certificates due is for fund released by NEC during the year 2020. Due to the pandemic, he stated that utilization of funds had been slow under MH 3601.

“Submission of UC without spending is not possible as UC due for Rs 58.11 crore in respect of Nagaland could not be given immediately,” he added.

Dropped projects
Meanwhile, the CM expressed concern that projects sanctioned during 2017-18 which were kept on hold have still not been taken up fully. Nagaland still has 18 projects which were dropped or closed on ‘as is where is basis,’ the CM rued.

Among these projects, the CM cited the Dr T Ao Regional Football Academy. The progress of the work was in full swing with release of Rs 250 lakh and the corresponding State Share of Rs. 27.77 lakh till the lockdown. Now the State has been asked to reimburse the money sanctioned and released by NEC, the CM informed. The CM appealed for re-opening of the project along with the other 17 projects for completion.

Under the North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS), the CM said that while a separate fund is kept for roads in the NE, the NEC or the constituent States have no role to play, as the projects are to be implemented by the NHIDCL. Even in the road selection committees the constituent states are not included, he informed.

He added that an allocation of Rs. 340 crore was made during 2020-21 under NERSDS, and Nagaland had submitted 14 projects but till date no action is taken. He called for a relook into the guidelines of this scheme to make it friendly to the constituent States.

Rio further stated that most of the major district roads including NEC funded roads are in deplorable condition. He called upon the council to earmark a certain portion of the roads’ budget for maintenance of roads, especially NEC constructed roads.

Another issue the CM touched on was the need for an airport in Kohima. The CM asked the NEC Chairman and the Ministry of DoNER to prevail upon the Civil Aviation Ministry to expedite the approval of the project and start developmental work.

Among a host of dignitaries, the plenary session was attended by Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Minister and NEC Chairman, Dr Jitendra Singh.

Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/increase-funds-complete-projects-nagaland-cm-at-nec-plenary-session