Our correspondent
Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein on Monday pleaded with the Centre to make suitable arrangements of funds to meet the development gap of the northeastern state.
Addressing a meeting that was chaired by union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the civil secretariat here, Mein said that the state has been deprived of the externally aided projects from organisations like the World Bank, ADB, JICA, etc. due to protests from China.
“This not only deprives us of financial benefits but also of the technical knowledge that comes along with externally aided projects, which is a big deterrent in our developmental activities. The ministry may kindly make suitable alternative arrangements to meet the gap,” he said.
Mein, who also holds the Finance, Planning, and Investment portfolios, further requested Sitharaman for a special one-time assistance of Rs 2000 crore for the replacement of about 5,500 dilapidated semi permanent type (SPT) residential quarters built during NEFA times, in the state.
“Most of the SPT residential buildings and official buildings for the government officials were constructed during NEFA days by the CPWD. It is proposed to replace the dilapidated SPT quarters and district offices with multistory RCC buildings for accommodating the present strength of state government employees and integrating the working of different departments in a single place,” he pointed out.
This will ease the working process and improve the turnaround time of the movement of files, hence increasing the efficiency of the work of the district administrative office, he said.
Mein added that the replacement of the SPT building with multistory buildings will also retain more government land in the district for the development of other important developmental infrastructures.
“Due to paucity of resources with the state, a special one-time assistance may be considered, please,” the deputy chief minister said.
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