‘Let Central funds be routed through DoNER or NEC to ADCs’
Shillong, October 1: The three autonomous district councils (ADCs) of Meghalaya on Monday sought grants worth Rs 8877.51 crore from the 16th Finance Commission for the next five years.
Of this, the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC) has proposed the highest amount Rs 5042.30 crore, Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) at Rs 2,641.54 crore and Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) at Rs 1,019.60 crore, KHADC chief Pyniaid Sing Syiem told reporters after submitting a joint memorandum to the chairman of the 16th Finance Commission Arvind Panagariya here.
Terming the meeting with the 16th FC as very fruitful, Syiem also highlighted the three major important points put forth by the three ADCs before the commission. The ADCs have requested the 16th FC to recommend more Untied Grants from next year onwards.
Unlike the previous 15th Finance Commission, the current 16th FC has given more Tied grants, which will be used mainly for projects related to water, health and sanitation.
“We have experienced difficulty in availing categorised funds as sometimes we need the funds for other projects such as development of schools, colleges or building community buildings etc.,” he said.
In order not to contradict on implementation of these developmental schemes, the ADCs have suggested and requested the 16th FC to be more flexible on Untied Grants that can be used for any other developmental activities proposed by the village heads or nokmas or the elakas, according to the KHADC chief
Syiem also informed that the ADCs had urged the Commission to ensure the Central funds to the ADCs should be routed through the Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) or North Eastern Council (NEC) and not through the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR).
“We are under Article 244 and Sixth Schedule. MoPR is mainly for those states which are under Article 243, meaning having the panchayati raj system,” he said.
Stating that the ADCs had been hugely affected due to NGT ban on coal mining in Meghalaya for the past 10 years, Syiem said they have urged the Commission to recommend grants for establishment of day-to-day functioning and activities of the councils under the central government’s revenue deficit budget grant.
“We have informed the commission that all three ADCs are dependent on the royalty shares on major minerals like coal (almost we get 25% from 100%). Since the ban on coal mining has been there for the past 10 years, the JHADC and GHADC could pay salaries to their employees and this has affected the two ADCs so much,” he said while explaining the proposal to FC to recommend grants for establishment of day-to-day functions and activities of the councils.
“Actually, this revenue deficit budget grant is mainly a grant for those states or constitutional institutions, which cannot function anymore due to deficit of revenue,” he added.
