Transparency urgently needed

One area where the Central Government has really failed in the North-East is its inability to monitor the use of funds provided for the development of this backward region. This has provided enough opportunity to a particular section of the people with vested interests to virtually loot the funds made available by the Centre, which undoubtedly increased the hardships of the people and helped the insurgency to flourish.

Thus it is a welcome step by the Union Home Ministry to write to all the State Governments in the North-East to make all sanctions and releases of funds exceeding Rs. 5 lakh public through local newspapers so that the common people is aware of those funds and sanctions. The Union Home Ministry took this decision hoping that this will act as a hurdle against diversion and misutilisation of funds.

'Fruits of development are not reaching to us', cried a Naga when a central team asked for his views about the ongoing developmental and welfare projects in the State. One recent example will be sufficient to prove that his outburst was not exaggerated. In 1992, Rs. 10 lakh were sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC) to the NPU mini hydel project in Nagaland. The money was released and misappropriated as nothing existed on the ground when the site was inspected.

This is not the story of Nagaland only. In all the North-Eastern States misappropriation of funds is going unabated. When details were sought from the Assam Government on how it had spent Rs. 150 crore given by the Centre to combat insurgency, no accounts were made available to the Central Government. A number of reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India have shown that funds were misused for projects which were only on paper.

A recent study by the Centre for Policy Research shows that between 1990-91 and 1997-98, the gross devolution and transfer of resources from Central Government to the region was more than Rs. 50,000 crore and compared to that Orissa, which has almost the same population as the North-East region, received only Rs. 20, 000 crore during the same period.
It's a pity that this huge fund cannot help the region to shrug of its backwardness as it was diverted, misused and misappropriated. It is time now to ensure it strictly that not only the state governments, but also various Central ministries make it public. It is condemnable that even the Central ministries in the past had been reluctant in disclosing the details of releases and sanctions.

Transparency in Government functioning especially in allocation funds will definitely help in removing backwardness from the North-East region. More importantly, it will enable the common people to know who is responsible for their hardships. This will also help to strengthen the democratic system and ensure that the funds earmarked for development reach to the common people.

We hope that the Union Home Ministry will not sit pretty after sending the letter to the State Governments. It should also keep a watchful eye so that any misappropriation of funds can be prevented. It is a task which the Union Home Ministry has so far failed to perform. Hope that this time onwards it will not commit the same mistake.