By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: The Opposition on Thursday criticised the State Government for failing to take up a pre-feasibility study on the expenses to be incurred for the four new districts.
Opposition leader Conrad K Sangma said that the inability of the State Government to come up with the actual amount of money which would be required for the four new districts will have serious ramifications on those who will take over the helms of affairs in the future.
According to Sangma, this is not small initiative where funds can be located at a later stage while adding that since it is a big project, the Government should have some rough idea on the funds which would be required.
“What would happen if the total expenses for each district crops up to Rs 1000 crore? Who would be responsible to allocate such a huge requirement of funds to take care the expenses of the new districts? Will the Central Government step in to support the State Government in this venture?” the Opposition Leader said during the Question Hour in the Assembly on Thursday.
The Opposition Leader also took a dig at Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma for not coming out with a clear-cut time frame as to when the Government would be able to complete the Detailed Project Report (DPRs).
“It is a matter of concern that on one hand, the Chief Minister is saying that the actual requirement of funds for the four new districts would be known once the DPRs are completed and at the same time, the Chief Minister is also saying that the DPRs would be prepared once certain amount of funds has been allocated for the purpose,” The Opposition Leader said.
In reply, the Chief Minister said that the Government has certain way of functioning. “We always allot certain amount of funds to all departments before the actual work for preparation of the DPR starts. We would then try to locate the funds once the department comes up with the proposal for actual requirement of funds for any proposed project,” Dr Sangma said.
He also maintained that funds would never be a constraint since the Government has already done a planning towards this end.
When the Opposition Leader asked when the DPRs are expected to be completed, the Chief Minister said that they would try to complete the preparations of the DPRs ‘at the earliest’.
Earlier, Dr Sangma informed that the projected cost for setting up of four new districts is estimated approximately at Rs 35.65 crore only for salaries and other administrative expenses.
“For development of a composite District Office Complex, an amount of Rs 40 crore is being allocated and another Rs 40 crore is being provided for the composite District Residential Complex in the Annual Plan for the current year,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that the actual requirement of funds on this account will be known once the detailed project reports are completed. “The work on infrastructure development is expected to be completed within a period of three years,” he said.
He said the office of deputy commissioners and superintendents of police have started functioning from the date of inauguration of the new districts.
Other district level offices which are expected to be made functional soon are District Transport Office, District Public Relation Office, District Sports Office and District Agriculture Office among others.