NEW DELHI, April 4 - The northeastern states may be clamouring for Central funds, but the DoNER Minister revealed that a sum of Rs 1,444.01 crore as on December 3, 2017 is lying unspent under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme of the ministry.
However, Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Dr Jitendra Singh said that the huge funds were lying unspent due to non-submission of utilisation certificates during 2016-17 and 2017-18.
The main reason for delay in submission of utilisation certificates is inability of the states for faster absorption of funds due to short working season.
Assam�s unspent balance for 2017-18 was Rs 108.51 crore and for 2016-2017 it was Rs 372.83 crore.
A monitoring mechanism for tracking the implementation of the NLCPR scheme is in place. The ministry has an online e-portal and project management system for submission, surveillance and follow-up of NLCPR projects. The portal helps in keeping surveillance on financial, physical and visual progress for timely completion of the projects.
Further, there is constant review of the progress of utilisation of funds with the state governments at all levels, including visits by the senior officials to the states. The ministry also keeps in touch with the officials concerned of the state governments through video-conference and other IT tools.
