NEW DELHI, June 27 � In what should come as a major relief for the fund-starved north-eastern states, their Special Category status and the resultant special funding pattern for Centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) are likely to continue.
This was evident from the decision of the sub-committee of the Chief Ministers of Niti Aayog that met here today. Members of the Chief Ministers� Sub-Group constituted by the Prime Minister, include Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who is the convener, and the Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Manipur, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and the Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
What is significant for the NE states is that the draft report said that for 11 Special Category states under the Core Sector scheme, the Centre-state sharing will be in the ratio of 90:10 per cent, while for optional schemes it would be 80:20 per cent.
The draft report also said that for all projects under CSS, in which 30 per cent of the work has been completed, funding should be continued. The sharing pattern under which the project was approved, should also continue till March 2017. If the projects remain incomplete even thereafter, the states would have to complete them using their own funds.
The report of the NDA government proposing to discontinue with the Special Category status and the generous funding pattern had set the Chief Ministers of the north-eastern states up in arms.
