Centre asks NE states to monitor fund utilisation

Aizawl, Jan 1 (UNI) The Centre has asked all the northeastern states to monitor fund utilisation under different schemes in the region, the DoNER ministry officials said here today.

The ministry's planning department sources said the Centre had alloted Rs 79,702.92 crore to the region during Tenth Five Year Plan while only a few states have spent up to 95 per cent of their budget outlay over the plan period.

Poor mobilisation of internal resources by the states like Meghalaya, Nagaland and Mizoram is one of the main reason behind the high expenditure and poor results, sources said adding that high budgetary allocations have failed to solve the problems of the region.

According to the DoNER officials, the state's inability to install a monitoring mechanism to check the fund's utilisation at the grassroots level was the reason for the slow development despite high amount of funds allocated.

They alleged that the funds were being utilised by some vested interests.

UNI