NEC refuses funds for projects costing less than Rs 2 cr

Aizawl, Nov 30 (UNI) North Eastern Council (NEC) Secretary Falguny Raj Kumar today reiterated that the NEC will not be funding the projects costing less than Rs two crore.

Speaking at a press conference here, the NEC secretary, who is on his maiden visit to Mizoram, made it very clear that any project costing less than Rs two crore, from either individuals or the state governments, would not be entertained.

Mr Kumar, however, said some projects of a state may be duplicated for other states to make them regional projects.

When asked what alternative opportunities the small entrepreneurs had, Mr Kumar said, ''They can go for the DoNER Ministry's non-lapsable pool of resources.'' The NEC Secretary noted that Mizoram's performance, in terms of fund utilisation, was quite satisfactory as compared to the other NE states.

He pointed out that utilisation certificates of funds amounting to Rs 49.71 crore were yet to be received from the Mizoram government and stressed the need to expedite utilisation certificates to ensure smooth fund flows.

''The ways and means position of cash have hindered the development work to a great extent and this is the general trend in most of the NE states,'' the NEC official said.

He said finance departments of the NE states were slow in releasing funds received from the NEC to the concerned departments which he attributed to the misutilisation of funds by the departments.

He advocated for a ''third party'' to ensure judicious use of NEC funds.

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