Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday said that the State Government had not received substantial amount of funds, which have been allocated for the State in 2014-15 financial year by the Central Government.
Gogoi said that the Central Government had allocated Rs7,161.57 crore under different schemes for Assam in the current financial year, but the State had received only Rs2591.62 crore against these schemes so far.
“There are different schemes including the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY), the MNREGA, National Rural livelihood Mission (NRlM) and many others,” Gogoi told newsmen on Wednesday.
The Chief Minister further clarified that the lack of submission of utilisation certificate is not the reason behind this as the State had submitted utilisation certificates to the tune of Rs5,236.98 crore for the year 2013-14.
The BJP often accuses the Assam Chief Minister for failing to ensure submission of utilisation certificates on time, which according to the BJP, delays the release of funds.
BJP lok Sabha MP from Guwahati Bijoya Chakraborty on Tuesday accused the Congress Government in Assam of misappropriating funds released by the Central Government for various developmental works including flood relief and management.
Giving details of the non-release of funds, Gogoi said that the Central Government had allocated Rs1,258.86 crore against Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) in 2014-15 for Assam. However, the State had so far received only Rs730.99 crore in this regard, Gogoi added.
“Similarly, the Centre had allocated Rs1,405.16 crore for Assam against the scheme of Sarwa Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) in the current financial year but the State had received only Rs829.74 crore so far,” he said.
“An amount of Rs1,269 crore had been allocated under different water resources schemes including the flood management programme. However, we have so far received only Rs. 22.83 crore against the schemes,” Gogoi pointed out.
“I have taken up the issues with the Centre on different occasions. However, they (Centre) keep on delaying it on different pretexts. While the Gujarat was paid the dues of oil royalty, Assam is yet to receive an amount of Rs. 1,000 crore as oil royalty from the Centre,” he said.
“In case of ex-gratia for the victims of disaster related incidents, we have urged the Centre to increase the amount to Rs5 lakh from existing Rs1.5 lakh. However, the Centre has refused to do so,” Gogoi added.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks about ‘make in India’. However, the Central Government had suspended the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP). So who will come to invest in Assam and other parts of the northeast regionIJ” Gogoi asked.