Guwahati, Jan. 22: The department for Development of North Eastern Region (Doner) has expressed its unhappiness over the drawing of funds by Central departments from the non-lapsable central pool of resources for funding several projects in the Northeast.
?This could have been acceptable if the resource pool had funds to play around with. But since we have limited funds, the logic and rationale of the department funding activities of other ministries/departments of government of India is not very clear and to our mind not desirable,? said a report prepared by Doner joint secretary J.P. Prakash and director A.K. Dutt after their visit to Kokrajhar and Nalbari in Assam last year.
Besides reviewing the progress of work under the North Eastern Council, the central pool and the Prime Minister?s special package in the state, the team had also conducted a field survey of selected projects.
The officials said 27 of the 33 projects monitored during their visit should have been funded by the respective Central departments, like higher education, from their own budgets. Instead, these departments were drawing funds from the pool.
The report said the inflow into the non-lapsable pool were uncertain and likely to be limited to Rs 500 crore a year for all the eight states of the Northeast. In that case, the pool division should not approve projects beyond its means, which it may not be able to fund in the future.
The officials said most of the projects proposed and sanctioned under the non-lapsable pool were a repeat of projects envisaged under normal schemes of either the Centre or the state government.
The officials said one of the main reasons for non-utilisation of non-lapsable pool funds was lack of adequate provisions in the state budget.
They said said since the state budget for 2002-03 had been passed, the provisions made in it should be ensured before approving any new proposal under the non-lapsable pool and releasing funds for old schemes.