Agartala, Apr 02, 2025, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala, Apr 04. The central government has substantially enhanced release of funds for the North Eastern states. According to Union Minister for Development of North East Region Jyotiraditya Scindia, the central government has spent more than double of the funds which had been allocated for the North Eastern states. The revelation came at the parliament on Wednesday in response to a question raised by former Chief Minister and current Lok Sabha MP from West Tripura Biplab Kumar Deb.  

“The total budget for the North East was set at Rs 51,000 crore, but total spending from the funds allocated by 54 ministries exceeded Rs1 lakh 6 thousand crore,” the Minister told the parliament.

Deb had sought details on the fund allocation for the North Eastern states and enquired about the efforts being undertaken to ensure the optimum utilisation of the allocated funds.

Replying to Deb, the Minister assured the House that all the 54 ministries had been following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instruction of  a “whole-of-government” approach for the development of the North East region.

“All 54 ministries have been instructed to allocate ten per cent of their Gross Budgetary Support, particularly, for the North Eastern region. Last year, we spent 106 per cent more than what had been initially allocated for the development of the North East,” Scindia asserted.

He further emphasised that all ministries had been working in coordination to achieve this goal. I understand the concerns raised by the Honourable Member of the house, but I would like to assure him that not a single penny allocated for the North East is going to waste. In fact, we are investing more than the allotted funds,” he added.

Earlier, Deb had expressed concerns over the spending of funds and noted that if they were not properly utilised, they would be returned to the central finance pool.