SHILLONG, March 15: The state government is still waiting for the Union government to release funds under the Border Areas Development Programme (BADP) for the year 2020-21, Border Area Development Minister Lahkmen Rymbui informed the House on Monday.
“All relevant documents have been submitted to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). However, funds is yet to be released,” Rymbui informed while replying to a query by Mawsynram Congress MLA, HM Shangpliang.
Replying to a supplementary question, Rymbui informed that the department has submitted 38 per cent of the Utilisation Certificates (UCs) till December, 2020, to the MHA.
Admitting that the Centre had introduced new guidelines to implement the BADP in 2017, the minister, however, said that the government had requested the Union government to allow the state to implement the Border Area Development schemes as was done in the previous years.
“We had expressed our reservations over the decision of the Centre to change the guidelines. We are yet to get any reply from the Ministry on our request,” Rymbui said.