ITANAGAR, Dec 31 — Activitiers of the NSCN-IM and NSCN-K were hindering development in the Tirap and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh, State PWD Minister Talo Mugli said, yesterday, reports PTI. The pace of development works could have been faster if the two districts didnot witness militant activities, Mugli said at a function here. Both the NSCN-IM and NSCN-K are active in Tirap and Changlang, according to official reprots.
Claiming despite the presence of militants, the development projects were being executed in the two districts, the minister said, “many of the roads, bridges and buildings under PWD, North East Council (NEC) and Prime Minister’s Gram Swarak Yojana are being completed as per schedule despite militancy in the area. This belied the perception in some quarters that the government was neglecting the two districts, he asserted but added that the project implementation could have been expedited had the situation improved.
Maintaining that funds were not a problem these days since money was coming from non-lapsable pool, Centrally sponsored schemes besides the State budget, the PWD Minisiter said the question was the preparation of feasible schemes. The PWD was spending Rs 48 crore annualy on labour payment, but sometimes the labour force was not fully utilised, Mugli said. For full utilisation of the annual expense, department officials shold ensure every pie was spent as a productive expenditure and strive for faster development, the minister observed.