NEW DELHI, April 27 – A working group set up by the North Eastern Council (NEC) has identified 56 inter-State and intra-State roads of economic importance for inclusion in the 11th Plan, Union Minister for DoNER and Mines, Bijoy Krishna Handique said in a Lok Sabha unstarred reply.

However, utilisation of funds under several schemes and the track record of project implementation in the North-east appeared poor. The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC),
for instance, was sanctioned Rs 50 crore last fiscal of which, it could utilise only Rs 3.15 crore. The same is the case under Social and Infrastructure Development Fund (SIDF), which was earmarked Rs 85 crore but only Rs 17.42 crore has been utilised.

Implementation of SIDF scheme in the North-east is perhaps the worst, with two projects being sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 17.42 crore. None of the two projects have been implemented andfunds remained unutilised.

The Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) was earmarked Rs 700 crore, out of which Rs 668.62 crore was utilised, the Minister informed.

According to details furnished by Handique, under the flagship scheme NLCPR, 97 projects were sanctioned at an estimated cost of Rs 834.99 crore. Only 36 were completed incurring an expenditure of Rs 249.59 crore.

The past performance of the North Eastern Council (NEC) is also hardly encouraging. The NEC was sanctioned 189 projects at a cost of Rs 705.13 crore. Only 43 projects have been completed incurring an expenditure of only Rs 80.99 crore.

Under the Special BTC package, four projects have been completed at a cost Rs 26.24 crore.

The projects for funding under the scheme are proposed by the North-eastern States after gap analysis and keeping in view their priorities and demands, the Minister said.

In addition, the Powergrid Corporation of India Limited has been entrusted with the responsibility of survey and preparation of feasibility report-cum-detailed project report on the transmission, sub-transmission and distribution of the power system in the region.

Further, the NEC provides funds to the Central Water Commission and the Brahmaputra Board and various States to conduct survey and investigation for preparation of DPR for hydro power projects, Handique added.

Stating that the annual budgetary allocation for development of North Eastern Region (NER) has gone up from Rs 1197.12 crore in 2004-2005 to Rs 1759.33 crore in 2010-2011, the Minister said that projects cleared by the Ministry are implemented by the State Government. To ensure properutilisation of funds, the progress of projects is reviewed from time to time with the State Governments.

The progress of the projects is monitored regularly through progress reports, utilisation certificates and field visits. The Chief Secretaries of the North-eastern States are also responsible for quarterly review of NLCPR projects, Handique said.

Curiously enough, though North-eastern States often clamour for more funds and demand early release of funds, their own track record in timely execution of projects is abysmally poor. The sanctioned funds remained unutilised, while projects remain stalled.

The DoNER Ministry cites delay in submission of DPRs and utilisation certificates as some of the factors responsible for the delay in releasing subsequent instalments.

At the last meeting of the NEC, the chief ministers and the Ministry of DoNER managed to work out revised guidelines for implementation of NLCPR schemes within specific time-frame.