Asom gets Rs 13 lakh against Rs 551.28 cr for Chhattisgarh NCDC funds Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Oct 13: The eight States of the North-east, including Sikkim, got a meagre Rs 6.17 crore (Rs 13 lakh for Asom) during the fiscal 2006-07 from the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), while Chhattisgarh alone got Rs 551.28 crore, said NCDC Chairman Kantilal Bhuria while talking to newsmen here today. When asked as to why Asom got such a small amount, the NCDC Chairman said: Asom and other States of the North-east didnt send any project proposal to the NCDC during the last 2/3 years. The Ministry is always ready to pour in funds to the States for development projects in livestock, industrial goods, handicraft, village and rural craft, agricultural credit, rural sanitation and other sectors under cooperative societies, but if the State governments and the cooperative societies do not come forward, what can we do? My department sent several letters, but the State Government didnt respond to our letters. Perhaps the State Government is not aware of NCDC projects. NCDC Deputy Managing Director G Panmei, on the other hand, said that Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar created an NCDC cell for the North-east in New Delhi so as to ensure rapid development of the cooperative sector in the north-eastern States that get liberal assistance to the extent of 95 per cent of the project cost, including the subsidy component of 33 per cent. According to Bhuria, the north-eastern States that have been marked as special category States, get 100 per cent subsidy under the ICDP Scheme. During the fiscal 2006-07, while Chhattisgarh got Rs 551.24 crore, Andhra Pradesh got Rs 480 crore and Tamil Nadu got Rs 347 crore from the NCDC. (The Sentinel,14.10.2007)
