(News) Caught in red-tape, funds yet to reach Bundelkhand

Caught in red-tape, funds yet to reach Bundelkhand

Three months after the Union Cabinet cleared a Rs 7,266-crore package for Bundelkhand, the politically charged backward region comprising districts of UP and Madhya Pradesh, has still not received a single paisa of the targeted finances as flow of funds has got entangled in administrative red-tape between Centre and the states.

The first installment of Rs 760 crore, approved weeks ago by the Finance Ministry to be spent in Bundelkhand, continues to lie unused as the sides concerned toss proposals at each other with reworked figures and demands. National Rainfed Authority chairman J S Samra, who is overlooking implementation of the Bundelkhand package, however, maintained that such procedural delays were not unusual. He said his effort would be to ensure flow of Rs 760 crore to both states by this month-end.

"There might be initial hiccups as do some prioritising. Instead of getting approval for new schemes which would have taken even more time, we have decided to support ongoing schemes of the state governments in Bundelkhand region that had been held up because of want of funds," Samra said.

He added that the Centre, in consultation with the states, was also preparing proposals for the next fiscal during which a major chunk of the Bundelkhand package is to be utilised.

UPA sources though admit that unease on the part of both Mayawati as well as the Shivraj Singh Chauhan governments over the Bundelkhand package, which has now been identified with Rahul Gandhi's political gameplan of pursuing a developmental agenda for the region, has indirectly contributed to the delay. Initially, the Mayawati government sent a Rs 5,000-crore proposal for Bundelkhand which the Centre had to reject and ask them to send fresh proposals that were in accordance with schemes worked out by the Union government.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, on the other hand, had met both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee last month and demanded similar packages for Bagelkhand, Vindhyas and Mahakoshal regions. There were further delays when state officials connected to the Bundelkhand package implementation were either transferred or retired, forcing the Central officials to start afresh with the new appointees. The BSP and BJP's wariness has only increased after Bundelkhand's status for availing central funds was further upgraded last month with the Centre agreeing to meet 90 per cent of the cost of irrigation projects for the drought-hit region. The normal Central assistance for irrigation projects in other states is 75 per cent.

According to UPA functionaries, the careful manner in which the schemes have been devised makes it very difficult for the funds to be diverted elsewhere by the states. As part of this objective, the Centre has asked the states to set up monitoring mechanisms for the schemes at the district levels.

"This has been done essentially to facilitate convergence of schemes," Samra said. Central officials from the ministries of agriculture and forests will be visiting the region next month.