Centre sanctions Rs 1000 crore for ADCs of 4 NE states

The Centre has sanctioned a 'special assistance grant' of Rs 1,000 crore for the upkeep of tribal councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, officials said today.
Of the total amount, Rs 539.79 crore was sanctioned for three Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in Assam, Rs 267.4 crore for three ADCs in Meghalaya, Rs 175.95 crore for one ADC in Tripura and Rs 16.86 crore for three ADCs in Mizoram, they said.
In Assam, the Bodoland Territorial Council will get Rs 421.02 crore, the maximum of the all the councils from the Centre, while the North Cachar Hills ADC will be getting Rs 24.66 crore and the Karbi Anglong ADC Rs 94.11 crore.

The Khasi Hills ADC (KHADC) in Meghalaya will get Rs 133.12 crore, the Garo Hills ADC Rs 100.71 crore while the Jaintia Hills ADC will get Rs 33.57 crore.
The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council in Tripura will get Rs 175.95 crore.
In Mizoram, the Chakma ADC will get Rs 4.58 crore, the Lai ADC will get Rs 4.64 crore while the Mara ADC will get Rs 7.64 crore, the officials said.

Hailing the decision, the Forum of Councils under Sixth Schedule (FOCUS) today urged the Centre to continue with aid till the ADCs are not included under the Article 280 of the Constitution.

FOCUS chairman and KHADC chief executive member P N Syiem said the Centre sanctioned the special assistance during 2015-16 following the requests made by the delegation of the ADCs after they were excluded from the 14th Finance Commission.
Noting that the grant was just a
'stop-gap-arrangement' Syiem said, "We have already submitted our proposal urging theCentre to include the ADCs under Article 280 of theConstitution to ensure they continue to enjoy the assistancefrom the 14th Finance Commission.