NEC plenary session: Tripura CM proposes subtle changes in fund devolution

The chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb approached Union Home Minister Amit Shah about a change in the devolution formula of the Centre for finances needed for NEC projects in the northeastern region. The Chief Minister also assured that if the NEC helped Tripura to have a 20 seater aircraft from HAL then the government would take steps to arrange a whole North East tour through the air.

Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Saturday approached Union Home Minister Amit Shah who also happens to be the chairman of North East Council with a slew of demands ranging from subtle changes in the devolution formula of funds meant for the North East Council to expediting the externally aided projects.

Deb in his a little over eight minutes brief speech at 69th Plenary session of North East Council at Shillong dwelt on the several initiatives taken by Tripura government for the economic upliftment of the state and tried attracting the attention of the Union Home Minister and DoNER minister Jitender Singh towards the blind spots that are required to be addressed or given significance too.

He said, "the Centre has decided to earmark 10 per cent of its yearly budget for the North East under all the departments. But, as per the previous experience, only 3 per cent of the funds are given for the North East. If the 10 per cent fund can be really given in time, it will be very good news for the North East".

Moving ahead with the decisions of the previous NITI forum meeting Deb said, "in the meeting in the year 2018, it was decided that various projects would be given under tea, fishery, dairy and bamboo for the North East. Tripura had already submitted projects under those sectors and my request is to expedite the projects".

The Chief Minister then spoke about the defunct airport at Kailashahar under Unakoti district of Tripura which was supposed to be relinked with the air connectivity map. "Under the Udan scheme there was a proposal to reinstate the airport but the AAI (Airport Authority of India) started bidding for airlines before it was ready for landing. If the airport were not ready, no airlines would come there to participate in bidding. Thus, it was required to look into the matter for the overall betterment of Tripura", he observed.

The Chief Minister also assured that if the NEC helped Tripura to have a 20 seater aircraft from HAL then the government would take steps to arrange a whole North East tour through the air.

"For a state like Tripura, it is very tough to get this 20 seater aircraft designed HAL that costs Rs 18 crore per year. If the NEC assists Tripura with Rs 10 crore it will bear the rest of the amount and arrange a pan-North East Tour through the air", he said.

Expressing his views on the externally aided projects, Deb said, "for Tripura, nine projects have been set as the limit in case of externally aided projects. But, I feel if this limit can be somehow increased then it will be better for Tripura. For the government, it takes 2 years to complete a project and then we can only apply for new ones. If this arrangement continues there will be a gap of two years in implemented and new projects".

The Chief Minister also demanded 60 per cent viability gap funding for all the infrastructure projects of North East region like Indradhanush project. Right now the viability gap funding for North East stood at 20 per cent. He had also demanded a fair distribution of 30 per cent new allocations for NEC.

The Chief Minister thanked union Minister Piyush Goyal through the present ministers for the investment in the rubber sector coming from ATMA (Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association).

According to him, the ATMA would invest Rs 1,100 crore in North East and Tripura would also get investment in 50,000 hectares of land.