Aizawl, Jul 14 : The nearly two-decade old Border Area Development Programme (BADP), aimed at developing certain areas to prevent influences from across the border, has developed a snag with the under par utilisation of Central funds by the border-states.
The fact that liberal funding by the Union government for BADP is not being actively used by these states is borne out by the fund utilisation figures for 2007-8 compiled by the home ministry. Out of the 17 beneficiary states, only seven have furnished utilisation certificatArunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttrakhand (all bordering China), Assam (bordering Bangladesh), Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (bordering Nepal), Punjab and Rajasthan (bordering Pakistan) are still to inform the Centre about the money spent by them during 2007-2008.
The rest of the states, including J&K, where the Centre has gone all out to develop border areas to prevent exploitation of the people by Pakistan, have given proof of having spent only Rs120 crore out of Rs295 crore disbursed by the Centre to them.
Intriguingly, despite Centre’s repeated stress on BADP, the insurgency-hit states such as J&K, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have spent only a fraction of the grant received by them in 2007-08. J&K, the biggest beneficiary of the scheme with a grant of nearly Rs106 crore, could use only Rs71 crore. The next in line, West Bengal with a grant of Rs101 crore, has used Rs11 crore only.
Better situation prevailed during 2006-07 when the border-states could spend Rs350 crore out of a total allocation of Rs520 crore. The states like J&K, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya had fully utilised the sanctioned amount.
Unruffled by the states’ response, the Centre has further increased the fund allocation under BRDP to Rs635 crore, with a strict monitoring mechanism. This is an increase of Rs55 crore over the allocation for 2007-2008. The states benefited by this increase are Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP.
Faced with the none-too-impressive performance of the states on this front, the Centre has issued a bunch of fresh guidelines to ensure better utilisation of funds. The scheme has also been extended to 362 border blocks situated on International Border in 96 districts of the 17 states.
In the face of the excuses offered by the states that the works could not be completed in time due to inhospitable terrain, the Centre has now permitted the states to involve security forces guarding the borders and NGOs for speedy completion of the projects.
DNAes, but that too for sums much less than what had been allocated to them.
The fact that liberal funding by the Union government for BADP is not being actively used by these states is borne out by the fund utilisation figures for 2007-8 compiled by the home ministry. Out of the 17 beneficiary states, only seven have furnished utilisation certificatArunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Uttrakhand (all bordering China), Assam (bordering Bangladesh), Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (bordering Nepal), Punjab and Rajasthan (bordering Pakistan) are still to inform the Centre about the money spent by them during 2007-2008.
The rest of the states, including J&K, where the Centre has gone all out to develop border areas to prevent exploitation of the people by Pakistan, have given proof of having spent only Rs120 crore out of Rs295 crore disbursed by the Centre to them.
Intriguingly, despite Centre’s repeated stress on BADP, the insurgency-hit states such as J&K, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram have spent only a fraction of the grant received by them in 2007-08. J&K, the biggest beneficiary of the scheme with a grant of nearly Rs106 crore, could use only Rs71 crore. The next in line, West Bengal with a grant of Rs101 crore, has used Rs11 crore only.
Better situation prevailed during 2006-07 when the border-states could spend Rs350 crore out of a total allocation of Rs520 crore. The states like J&K, Assam, West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram and Meghalaya had fully utilised the sanctioned amount.
Unruffled by the states’ response, the Centre has further increased the fund allocation under BRDP to Rs635 crore, with a strict monitoring mechanism. This is an increase of Rs55 crore over the allocation for 2007-2008. The states benefited by this increase are Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and UP.
Faced with the none-too-impressive performance of the states on this front, the Centre has issued a bunch of fresh guidelines to ensure better utilisation of funds. The scheme has also been extended to 362 border blocks situated on International Border in 96 districts of the 17 states.
In the face of the excuses offered by the states that the works could not be completed in time due to inhospitable terrain, the Centre has now permitted the states to involve security forces guarding the borders and NGOs for speedy completion of the projects.
DNAes, but that too for sums much less than what had been allocated to them.
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