GUWAHATI, Nov 19 - Assam is often deprived of its due Central funds because of the failure of the government to implement the schemes on time and there is need for regular monitoring of implementation of Central sector and Centrally-sponsored schemes to deal with the problem.
Highly placed official sources admitted before The Assam Tribune that there have been instances when the State government failed to send projects with DPRs (detailed project reports) to the Central ministries on time. There have also been instances when concept notes and DPRs of the projects by different departments of the State government were returned by the Central ministries for those being not in order.
To deal with this problem, there is need for capacity building of all the departments so that proper DPRs and concept notes of the projects can be sent to the Centre. Whenever a DPR is sent back by a Central ministry, a fresh DPR has to be prepared and it is a time consuming process and implementation of the projects is delayed, sources pointed out.
Sources said the Centre releases funds for schemes in instalments and the second instalment is released only after submission of utilization certificate of the first instalment. But because of system flaws in the State government, sometimes, funds are not released to the departments concerned on time, resulting in delay in the whole process of implementation of the schemes.
Sources pointed out that the failure to submit the utilization certificates delays release of the next instalment of funds by the Central ministries, which not only delays completion of the projects but also results in cost escalation and it becomes difficult to complete the projects with the available funds.
Sources said some states of the country start implementing projects with their own funds even before receiving funds from the Centre and those states can submit utilization certificates of the first instalments within months of receiving the money to get the next instalments. But Assam is not in a position to do so as the financial position is not yet that healthy to start implementing projects with own funds without waiting for Central funds.
South Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh as well as Maharashtra are considered among the best performers in utilizing Central funds on time. Moreover, due to the weather condition, the working season is very limited in Assam, which is another major problem, sources said.
