Gogoi accuses Centre of not releasing allocated funds

Guwahati, Feb 18: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday accused the central government of not releasing funds allocated to the state for various schemes.

The reaction came a day after BJP Lok Sabha MP Bijoya Chakraborty accused the state government of misappropriating funds released by central government for various developmental works.

"In 2014-15, Rs.2,591.62 crore was received by the state so far against the total central fund allocation of Rs.7,161.57 crore," Gogoi said.

He said the state government had already submitted to the centre utilization certificates against various schemes under 2013-14 financial year.

"We have submitted utilization certificates to the tune of Rs.5,236.98 crore for 2013-14. Sometimes it takes time but we have submitted utilization certificates against most of the amount," he said, adding they did not receive funds even for those schemes for which the state government submitted the utilization certificates for the previous year.

Gogoi said that while the centre allocated Rs.1,258.86 crore against Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) in 2014-15, the state has so far received only Rs.730.99.

"Similarly, the centre had allocated Rs.1,405.16 crore against Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) in 2014-15, but we have so far received only Rs.829.74 crore. An amount of Rs.1,269 crore was allocated under different water resources schemes including the flood management programme. However, we have so far received only Rs.22.83 crore," Gogoi said.

He said that there are other schemes such as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Gurantee Act (MNREGA), National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and other central schemes for which substantial amount is yet to be released.

He took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party and said the popularity of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre is decreasing in Assam and other parts of the country.

"The number of central ministers visiting Assam and other northeastern states has increased but still their popularity is going down," he said.

"The prime minister talks of Make In India programme. However, they have suspended the benefits under the North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP). So who will come to Assam or Nagaland or to other states in the region to invest?" Gogoi asked.

IANS