‘No new North-East projects till pending ones get completed’
25 Sept 2014 5:27 AM IST
He is rather concentrating on finishing all outstanding ones. With a budget of around Rs 800 crore annually for sanctioning special projects in the north-east, this ministry, since its inception in 2004, has sanctioned projects year after year without having the money to disburse or finish earlier projects.
DoNER so far has sanctioned 1,199 projects worth Rs 6,944 crore out of which only 622 projects have been completed and the rest 577 are pending. It is shocking that some of these pending projects are as old as eight years. The present ministry, after reviewing this extra ordinary situation, decided to finish the ongoing projects first and then sanction any new ones. The ministry has also carried out a reshuffle of senior officers through which VK Singh shifted VB Pathak from the portfolio of NLCPR which takes care of the sanctioning of new projects and brought in another Jt. Secretary AM Singh. Earlier, the ministry used to follow 2 methods:
1) After any north-east state government submits multiple project list, they were asked to give a priority list.
2) Some projects were pushed into retained list and the guidelines were also quite confusing.
The present minister is drafting the revision of guidelines as well. Earlier, for sanctioning any projects, the ministry used a lot of ‘discretion’ where various kinds of private contractors allegedly played key roles since all state government projects in the north-east were implemented by private contractors only. It is rumored that in many cases, these private contractors share up to 30% commission with various key decision makers. The present minister has decided to break all such nexus and bring in a transparent mechanism.
Meanwhile, Dr VK Singh addressed the media after completing 100 days in office. He said the development of the North East Region is high on priority of the Centre and the commitment of the ministry stands doubled. The minister said review of pending projects and seamless implementation of development projects in NER are being ensured by inter-ministerial consultations. He said the process of review for schemes of 53 non-exempted ministries/departments is underway. Review of schemes will not only maximize benefits but will also enable concerned ministries/departments to perform well, he added.
For increasing outreach, Singh said two new schemes, ‘Road Development’ and ‘Organic Farming’ have been launched besides increasing efficacy of ongoing schemes. Then there is Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) under which so far 1,596 projects have been sanctioned for a total of Rs 14,172 crore. Of these 833 projects stand completed and are fulfilling aspirations of the NE population, he added.
Total budgetary allocation by Central line ministries for NER is Rs 53,705 crore for 2014-15.
Amount allocated to the ministry of DoNER is Rs 2,306 crores. Another initiative is in the form of being pro-active rather than reactive. Underlying the importance of states’ cooperation, the minister said views of all stakeholders are now taken before deciding a policy. Changes in policies are preceded by detailed stakeholders’ consultations. In pursuance of this shift in policy, a Chief Ministers’ Conference was organised on 21 and 22 August at Guwahati in Assam where aspirations of NE people were articulated by the states and ministry of DoNER. The ministry is now engaged in putting in place appropriate mechanism for converting these into validity.
There is a clear shift in focus. Now, focus is on Detailed Review of Projects and micro-managing the implementation of projects for better results. Aggressive campaign for showcasing handlooms and handicrafts of the NE states is proposed to be launched for ensuring higher income levels of the artisans, the minister said.
DoNER so far has sanctioned 1,199 projects worth Rs 6,944 crore out of which only 622 projects have been completed and the rest 577 are pending. It is shocking that some of these pending projects are as old as eight years. The present ministry, after reviewing this extra ordinary situation, decided to finish the ongoing projects first and then sanction any new ones. The ministry has also carried out a reshuffle of senior officers through which VK Singh shifted VB Pathak from the portfolio of NLCPR which takes care of the sanctioning of new projects and brought in another Jt. Secretary AM Singh. Earlier, the ministry used to follow 2 methods:
1) After any north-east state government submits multiple project list, they were asked to give a priority list.
2) Some projects were pushed into retained list and the guidelines were also quite confusing.
The present minister is drafting the revision of guidelines as well. Earlier, for sanctioning any projects, the ministry used a lot of ‘discretion’ where various kinds of private contractors allegedly played key roles since all state government projects in the north-east were implemented by private contractors only. It is rumored that in many cases, these private contractors share up to 30% commission with various key decision makers. The present minister has decided to break all such nexus and bring in a transparent mechanism.
Meanwhile, Dr VK Singh addressed the media after completing 100 days in office. He said the development of the North East Region is high on priority of the Centre and the commitment of the ministry stands doubled. The minister said review of pending projects and seamless implementation of development projects in NER are being ensured by inter-ministerial consultations. He said the process of review for schemes of 53 non-exempted ministries/departments is underway. Review of schemes will not only maximize benefits but will also enable concerned ministries/departments to perform well, he added.
For increasing outreach, Singh said two new schemes, ‘Road Development’ and ‘Organic Farming’ have been launched besides increasing efficacy of ongoing schemes. Then there is Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) under which so far 1,596 projects have been sanctioned for a total of Rs 14,172 crore. Of these 833 projects stand completed and are fulfilling aspirations of the NE population, he added.
Total budgetary allocation by Central line ministries for NER is Rs 53,705 crore for 2014-15.
Amount allocated to the ministry of DoNER is Rs 2,306 crores. Another initiative is in the form of being pro-active rather than reactive. Underlying the importance of states’ cooperation, the minister said views of all stakeholders are now taken before deciding a policy. Changes in policies are preceded by detailed stakeholders’ consultations. In pursuance of this shift in policy, a Chief Ministers’ Conference was organised on 21 and 22 August at Guwahati in Assam where aspirations of NE people were articulated by the states and ministry of DoNER. The ministry is now engaged in putting in place appropriate mechanism for converting these into validity.
There is a clear shift in focus. Now, focus is on Detailed Review of Projects and micro-managing the implementation of projects for better results. Aggressive campaign for showcasing handlooms and handicrafts of the NE states is proposed to be launched for ensuring higher income levels of the artisans, the minister said.
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