GUWAHATI, April 4 — The Centre has released Rs 233.93 crore in cash and 1,63,626 metric tonne of rice (valued at Rs 196.35 crore) to Assam as the second instalment of rural development funds for the year 2002-03 to implement various rural development programmes in the State. Making this announcement during a press conference here today, Assam Minister of State (Independent) for Panchayat and Rural Development (P&RD) Ripun Bora said that the Central grant is unique in the sense that money has been given for the entire package of rural development projects. Assam is the second State in the country to have got its second instalment of funds for rural development from the Centre.
Bora said that the money for Assam has been released as a special case on a 90:10 funding pattern. He said that Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had personally met Union Rural Development Minister Shanta Kumar last month requesting him to release the second instalment only at ten per cent State matching share instead of the usual 25 per cent as the issue of 90:10 funding pattern for the special category states like Assam is at an advanced stage of consideration of the Ministry of Finance. “We are definitely thankful to the Centre too for allowing it,” he said.
According to Bora, due to the acute financial crunch of the State Government, it was constrained to release the balance amount of the State share for which the Centre was reluctant to release the second instalment. “There was a deadlock on matching share,” he admitted, he said that in order to get the second instalment of the current year the matching State share was Rs 70 crore out of which the State Government had released Rs 21.35 crore in December last.
Bora informed that Assam has already received Rs 237.73 crore in cash and 1,79,893 MT of rice (worth Rs 215.8 crore) as the first instalment of 2002-03 for rural development schemes after the Government had released Rs 67.11 crore as the state share for the backlog of the previous year.