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Tuki plea for retaining �spl category� tag

By Correspondent

ITANAGAR, June 27 � Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki today reiterated the demand for retention of the �special category� status of the Northeastern States and continuation of 90:10 funding pattern for NE States.

Attending the final meeting of the NITI Aayog�s Sub-Group on Rationalisation of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) in the national capital, the Arunachal CM also pitched for reconsidering Special Plan Assistance (SPA) to fill up critical infrastructure gap citing the late entry of the State in the journey of development and the continued need for support from the Centre.

He suggested that since the Hill States have a different geography and history, a chapter highlighting these difficulties must form part of the recommendation. This will have a bearing on the future policy decisions on other development plans of the Union Government, he said.

�I had submitted a draft chapter � �Need for Special Dispensations for Hill States�. This will also justify our recommendation for a special sharing pattern for these States,� Tuki said and further pitched for a transparent formula for horizontal distribution of resources amongst the States.

On the delinked schemes, Tuki suggested that a separate dispensation be recommended for the hill states and made specific mention of the SPA projects which involves huge funding and urged that the resource should be kept at least at par with last year�s level for hill states to continue the development momentum. He requested the salary components of the delinked schemes to be supported for at least till the end of the 12th Five Year Plan or two years for hill states.

The Sub Group will submit the final recommendations to the Prime Minister on July 5, 2015.

The meeting was attended by Chief Ministers of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Nagaland, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu &Kashmir, Manipur and Kerala and Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

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