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A Rs 207 crore project for protection and development of world's biggest river island Majuli, located along river Brahmaputra in Assam, was announced by the Centre today.
The announcement was made by Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jitendra Singh.
"This is a serious effort by the Ministry of DoNER for the upliftment of the world famous scenic island which was recently also declared a separate district," Singh said in a statement.
The amount earmarked by the Ministry of DoNER will be spent primarily for safeguarding the land loss due to erosion and to protect the 80 km length of the bank line on the right bank of river Brahmaputra along world famous Majuli island.
Presiding over a meeting of the Ministry of DoNER with participation by the officials of North Eastern Council (NEC) from its headquarters at Shillong through video conferencing, he said it is a matter of pride that the Ministry has succeeded in breaking the jinx of allocated funds remaining unspent year after year, for the last several decades.
Citing figures, he said, out of Rs 2,400 crore allocation for Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), Rs 1,743 crore have already been spent in the first nine months in the current financial year, which is a quantum jump compared to what it was in the preceding financial years.
Similarly, Singh said, the NEC has already spent Rs 702 crore till now since April 1 in the current financial year, whereas in the last financial year of 2015-16, the total amount spent in the whole year was Rs 760 crore.
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The DoNER Minister said several out-of-the-box decisions taken over the last one year have contributed to the expediting of the projects and increased spending of funds.
This, Singh said, is borne out by the fact that during the current financial year, so far 99 projects have already been completed out of which 76 fall under NLCPR scheme and 23 under North-Eastern Council.
These include projects related to roads, water supplies, education, among others, he added.
The minister said the modified procedure of the detailed project reports (DPRs) to be scrutinised by State-level Empowered Committee instead of being conventionally routed through the DoNER Ministry and Utilisation Certificates being submitted through Space technology, has not only brought in more transparency, but also faster results.
The final details of 'Venture Fund' to be provided by the DoNER Ministry to new start ups in the Northeast will also be worked out soon and this added incentive has already begun to attract the youngsters, he said.
