SHILLONG:
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has urged the Centre to not penalise the state for applying for more than Rs 12,000 crore of externally aided projects (EAPs), which is more than what other smaller states in the North East are getting.
Sangma told reporters here on August 9 that the matter related to the EAPs was also taken up with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The chief minister said that about 80 per cent of the amount that comes to Meghalaya is repaid by the Centre under various sanctions meant for the North East. The Centre approves the projects that are finally sanctioned.
Sangma, however, informed that the Finance ministry had said that Meghalaya had applied for over Rs 12,000 crore, which is higher than the other smaller NE states put together. The ministry further said that there has to be some kind of a control over Meghalaya’s proposals as it has taken more than what other small states have taken.
“Hence, we requested the prime minister that we are performing and the reason why we are getting these projects cleared by different banks is because we have been able to implement projects properly and submit necessary reports properly and hence, we should not be penalised for that,” he said adding the prime minister also understood.
Sangma further said that the prime minister was informed that these EAPs are helping the state in achieving overall goals and targets which the Centre has also put forward and the proof lies in the fact that the central government’s programmes are being complemented by these aided projects.
The chief minister also said that the state delegation during its meeting with the prime minister also shared with him some of the state’s achievements in terms of the Jal Jeevan Mission, NREGS, immunisation, health of women, especially maternal mortality and how it has come down drastically in the last five years.
“We also shared with him some of our visions of the future where we would like to ensure that there would be strong economic growth of the state and we shared our vision about a 10-billion dollar economy,” he said.