35 NE districts allotted funds, foodgrains under Central scheme

SHILLONG, June 4 ? The Ministry of Rural Development has released an amount of Rs 1970.60 lakh to 35 districts in the north-eastern States as ad-hoc first instalment of Central funds under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), according to an official statement. In addition, 16,977 tonnes of rice have been allocated to the districts at a total value of Rs 1935.12 lakh.

Tripura gets Rs 776.61 lakh for four districts under the scheme. This is besides 6460 tonnes of rice valued at Rs 762.62 lakh. The Ministry has released grants-in-aid of Rs 389.79 lakh to six districts of Meghalaya. Further, 3240 tonnes of rice of the total value of Rs 382.77 lakh have been allocated to the State. Nagaland secured release of funds to the tune of Rs 330.48 lakh for eight districts. Also foodgrains worth Rs 324.54 lakh have been allocated; of which, 1960 tonnes are wheat and 1380 tonnes are rice. The Ministry has also released Rs 238.78 lakh for five districts in Manipur. In addition, the State has been allocated 1980 tonnes of rice at the total value of Rs 234.48 lakh. Mizoram received an amount of Rs 111.50 lakh for eight districts. The State has also been allocated 930 tonnes of rice worth Rs 109.49 lakh.

Another beneficiary State Sikkim gets Rs 123.44 lakh for four districts under SGRY. Also, 1027 tonnes of rice have been allocated at the total value of Rs 121.22 lakh. The sanctions for the current financial year are subject to adjustment of amount to be released in future for implementation of the scheme.

Also, the value of the rice is calculated at economic cost. The economic cost of rice is Rs 10.80 per kg and that of wheat is Rs 8.30 per kg. The payment for the foodgrains will be made by the Ministry to FCI directly on lifting of foodgrains and presentation of bills duly verified by the district manager, FCI and DRDA of the concerned district, in the prescribed format.