Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Dec 15: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh announced here today the Union Cabinet approval for 100% Central funding of Northeast projects through Ministry of DoNER.
While thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this historic decision with far – reaching benefits, Dr Jitendra Singh disclosed that in departure from the earlier practice of 90:10 funding of Northeast projects implying 90% funds from Centre and 10% from the respective State, from now onwards, the Union Cabinet has agreed that the entire 100% of the funding will be borne by the Centre, which will result in a huge relief to the exchequer of the State Government and will also put an end to the frequent requests received from the State Governments about lack of funds for them to contribute their share.
This path-breaking decision, he hoped, will put an end to undue delay in the execution of various development projects in the region and will be a major booster for the eight States of the North-Eastern region.
The new scheme under the name “North-East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme” (NESIDS), according to Dr Jitendra Singh, is being introduced from the current year 2017-18, thus restructuring the existing DoNER Scheme of “Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources” (NLCPR).
Referring to a number of revolutionary decisions taken in the last four years to streamline the execution of development projects and remove the existing bottlenecks, Dr Jitendra Singh said, in the past, the major challenge was delay or abandonment of projects with the parking of funds. He said, this has been overcome by making the submission of DPRs on-line and that too directly to the concerned Ministry, with the DoNER Ministry acting as coordinator.
Similarly, the issue of delayed submission or non-submission of Utilization Certificates (UCs) has been overcome by using Satellite technology and Space imaging for real-time and prompt submission of UCs. The parking of funds, he said, has also been sought to be overcome by regulating the release of the first installment for any new project.
Meanwhile, at a high-level meeting of the Ministry of DoNER, Dr Jitendra Singh reviewed the arrangements and plan for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit tomorrow to Mizoram and Meghalaya, followed by a public rally later in the day at Shillong.
During Prime Minister’s visit tomorrow, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the first lot of “Venture Funds” started by Ministry of Northeast (DoNER) for new Start-Ups will be handed over at Aizawl, Mizoram. Similarly, the hydro-electric project under the Ministry of Power to be inaugurated by Prime Minister in Mizoram is being provided additional funding by Ministry of DoNER in order to make the power tariff more cost-effective.
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