Question : Unspent Funds under NLCPR

(a) whether a large amount of funds are lying unspent under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor, State-wise;
(c) whether the Government has formulated any new policy/scheme to make funds available for projects critical to the development of North-Eastern States;
(d) if so, the details thereof;
(e) whether the Government has formulated any monitoring mechanism for tracking the implementation of the NLCPR scheme; and
(f) if so, the steps being taken by the Government towards effective and timely implementation of the schemes?

The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
[Dr. Jitendra Singh]

(a) and (b) As on 31.12.2017, a sum of Rs.1444.01 crore are lying unspent under Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) scheme of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. This includes releases during 2016-17 and 2017-18 for which utilisation certificates are not yet due. The main reason for delay in submission of Utilisation Certificates is inability of States for faster absorption of funds due to short working season.

The State-wise details of unspent balance lying with the States are as under:-

(Rs. in crore)
<pre>
State Unspent balance with States
(up to 31.12.2017)
UC due
(up to 31.12.2017)

Arunachal Pradesh 221.98 40.21
Assam 372.83 108.51
Manipur 242.42 10.95
Meghalaya 182.30 20.47
Mizoram 127.20 40.85
Nagaland 105.27 16.18
Sikkim 85.16 0.00
Tripura 106.85 0.00
Total 1444.01
237.17
</pre>
(c) and (d) Government has recently approved a new scheme “North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS)” at a cost of Rs. 1600.00 crore, for a period of three years from the FY 2017-18 to 2019-20. The scheme is aimed at financing projects to fill up the gap in creation of physical infrastructure relating to water supply, power, connectivity and specially the projects promoting tourism; and social sector projects relating to creation of infrastructure for education and health.

(e) and (f) Yes, Madam. A monitoring mechanism for tracking the implementation of the NLCPR scheme is in place. The Ministry has an online e-Portal/Project Management System for submission, surveillance and follow up of NLCPR projects. The portal helps in keeping surveillance on financial, physical and visual progress for timely completion of projects. Further, there is constant review of the progress of utilization of funds with the State Governments at all levels, including visits by the senior officials to the States and the Ministry is in constant touch with the officials concerned of the State Governments through video-conferencing and other IT tools like WhatsApp, SMSes and E-mails. Measures taken also include sanction of token release of only Rs.10 lakh and the remaining release just-in-time after work order is issued apart from review at various levels and extensive use of Information Technology (IT) tools.