Guwahati: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Friday fumed over cut in Central fund allocation to the state under various centrally sponsored schemes and demanded restoration of special category state status to Assam for continuation of 90:10 (Centre’s share: state share) pattern of funding.
“Assam government will have to shoulder additional burden of over Rs 7,000 crore this fiscal as the Central government has decided to delink several Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) and change pattern of funding in a number of other schemes,” Gogoi said.
“The continuance of the CCS and other centrally funded programmes at the levels of 2014-15 would therefore imply that the State Government will have to mobilise around Rs. 7,042.78 crore just for these schemes — Rs. 4,051.64 crore for the fully delinked programmes and Rs 2,991.14 crore as state share after the changed pattern of funding to 50:50),” Gogoi said.
“This would put a very difficult strain on our resources. This burden on the State would further mount as the coverage and scope of the schemes may have naturally to be expanded depending on the state’s needs in future,” he added.
Gogoi said the number of CSS was brought down from 142 to 66 in 2013, after careful restructuring and redesigning, and there were indications that this number would be further brought down, and even reduce the number of Flagship Progammes from 17.
He pointed that funding pattern in CSS was 90:10 (centre share:state share) for special category states like Assam but this pattern was being reworked to as less as 50:50 in some schemes, which would adversely impact development activities.
The CM further said the Union Budget has allocated Rs 17,400 crore for Assam against a recommendation of Rs 19180 crore by the 14th Finance Commission.
On the Union Minister’s statement that these changes would be offset by the increased transfers under the 14th Finance Commission, Gogoi said, “This may not be the case as far as Assam is concerned. The State Government was earlier getting 3.68 percent of the funds from the total divisible pool while now the Finance Commission recommended 3.31 percent only.”
Gogoi said that all CMs of N-E states had been seeking an appointment with the PM to raise these issues further as all the eight states of the region would be affected by the changed pattern of central funding.
