NEC budget Rs 925 crore for 1017-18 FY

***NEC calendar released on Tuesday by its secretary***

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, DEC 27: NEC secretary Ram Muivah said on Tuesday informed that the North Eastern Council (NEC) has fixed the budget of Rs 925 crore for the 2017-18 financial year and about 40 per cent of it has been earmarked for improvement of road connectivity and power projects in the region,.

“We have just received the budget for the next financial year and it has been fixed at Rs 925 crore,” Muivah told reporters at the sideline of the release of an official calendar of the council.

He said that the council has completed utilisation of 73 per cent of the Rs 800 crore earmarked for the council this Financial Year.

He said 24 projects were taken up this year which includes two health projects in Assam, six projects in Manipur, four projects in Mizoram, five in Nagaland and three projects each in Meghalaya and Sikkim.

Assam has about 60 crore parked with the finance department pending implementation, the NEC secretary complaint even as he informed that the council has also proposed to release only Rs 10 lakh to the states for each project before the actual release of 40 per cent.

“This proposal is subject to the nod from members in the next plenary council meet,” Muivah said.

He also informed that the council is proposing a draft normative allocation of funds from the council based on the state’s population, geography and human development index.

Accordingly, Assam is proposed to get the major share of the budget which is about 25 per cent and the least to get is Sikkim which is seven per cent only.

The rest of the states – Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh will get 11 per cent only, he said.

The normative allocation is also followed in distribution of non-lapsable central pool of resources (NLCPR).

This exercise is expected to solve complaints from chief ministers of these states who often complaint that they get less funds from the NEC.

Meanwhile, the NEC secretary informed that council has approved Rs 120 crore projects for Meghalaya for the FY 2016-17, the DPR of which was asked to submit soon.

Tripura on the other hand, submitted its proposal on Tuesday only and it is likely to miss the budget and have to be carried over to FY 2017-18.

Among the states, Sikkim, Tripura and Mizoram are responsive to the projects from the NEC even as Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh are doing okay, he informed.