Question : MISUTILISATION OF FUNDS OF DONER

(a) whether the Government agree that despite having an Act of Parliament in 1972 and spending crores of rupees since 2000 for the development of North Eastern Region there has been no balanced development in the region;

(b) if so, the reasons thereof and action taken in this regard;

(c) the total number of complaints of misuse of funds have been received by the Government; and

(d) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to ensure the full utilisation of the funds allocated for the projects?

MINISTER IN THE MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION (SHRI P.R. KYNDIAH)

(a) & (b) No Sir. It is not correct to say that there has been no balanced development in the NE Region since 1972. The process of balanced development is a continuous one. Ever since its inception, NEC has been creating socio-economic infrastructure etc. to catalyse balanced development of North Eastern Region. To further enable NEC to achieve its objectives, it has been assigned the role of Regional Planning Body through the amendment of NEC Act 1971. The NEC has also been restructured recently.

(c) No complaint of misuse of NEC funds has been received by the Government.

(d) NEC Secretariat monitors the progress of implementation of projects funded by NEC and the utilization of funds sanctioned and released for such projects on a regular basis.