Congress leader Jairam Ramesh criticised the Modi Government’s policy towards the North East, suggesting a pattern of underutilisation of allocated budgets.

 He noted that while large budgets are often announced for the region, the actual utilisation of these funds has been inconsistent.

 According to Ramesh, since 2014, the full budget for the North East has only been utilised twice. 

In contrast, the UPA government reportedly utilised around 90% of the budget consistently.

 For FY23, a budget of Rs. 2755 crores was allocated, but a report from the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) in June 2023 revealed that only Rs 989 crore (35.9%) was utilised, claimed Ramesh.

 Further, in 2020-21, fund utilisation was only 52% for the North East Road Sector Development Scheme and 34% for the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme.

 Ramesh also pointed out that while the PM-DevINE scheme, launched in 2022, boasts a Rs. 6,600 crores outlay for the period from 2022-23 to 2025-26, only over 10% of funds (Rs. 855.85 crores) have been sanctioned so far.

 He also highlighted that despite doubling the budget for the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region ahead of elections in Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Tripura in January 2023, the track record suggests a potential discrepancy between announced allocations and actual fund disbursement.