Arunachal asks Centre to consider special funding

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Kalikho Pul has requested the Centre to consider special funding for the state on the lines of Special Plan Assistance (SPA) in a bid to ensure continued investment in critical infrastructure.
"If the Centre seeks to continue to pursue the policy of trying to bring the backward states at par with the other developed states of the country, it must ensure special dispensation in some form or other for these states to cope up with the national development process," Chief Minister Kalikho Pul said during a meeting with the 13-member all ministries Niti Aayog team led by its CEO Amitabh Kant here, yesterday.

Pul said the financial gain in case of Arunachal Pradesh, like other Special Category States, which are mostly resource crunched, was not so much as in the case of other general category states.
"This is mainly due to the fact that the allocations like NCA (Normal Central Assistance), SCA (Special Compensatory Allowance), SPA and few CSS (Centrally Sponsored Schemes), which have been delinked from the plan allocation, used to constitute a major portion (about 40 pc) of the total central assistance to the state during 2014-15," he said.
During 2015-16, the Centre has released Rs 7,200 crores as devolution of taxes to the state as against projected figure of Rs 8,003 crores by the FFC.

Further, for the current financial year, the finance ministry has earmarked Rs 7,800 crores as against the projected figure of Rs 9,237 crores by the FFC.

"There is a deep felt need to build public confidence so that people living along the borders and also in the entire border state of Arunachal are assured that they are indeed an integral part of India, as the government announces each time there is a Chinese claim," Pul pointed out.
"The sense of neglect and apprehension that people have felt due to lack of development for long, has now to be met with action on the ground. We must ensure that the communities are given the basic amenities of life and a competitive standard of living, in comparison with other parts of the country," he said.

Arunachal is an uncontested and integral part of India, the chief minister said and asked the Centre to be more assertive with international donor agencies and impress upon them to invest freely in the state.
"Arunachal Pradesh should be made pivotal to our foreign policy vis-s-vis China. For a start, Japan may be invited to invest in the state in order to check Chinese hegemony in the region," he suggested.