Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Ministry of Development of the North East Region (DoNER) has asked all Northeastern states, central ministries, their organizations, and agencies to submit additional and impactful projects in line with the guidelines of the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for the North East Region (PM-DevINE) scheme. PM-DevINE is a new central-sector scheme for the entire north-eastern region with 100% central funding.
Recently, a meeting of the Empowered Inter-Ministerial Committee (EIMC) of PM-DevINE was held in New Delhi under the chairmanship of the secretary, DoNER. The instructions about new projects were included in an office memorandum (O.M.) issued on June 5, 2024, which contained the minutes of the EIMC meeting.
According to the O.M., the Chairperson of the Empowered Inter-Ministerial Committee (EIMC) advised the state governments to pose additional and impactful projects in line with the scheme guidelines and within their balance share of the indicated outlay under the scheme. The state governments were also advised that new proposals should refrain from including non-admissible elements, as per the revised guidelines of the PM-DevINE scheme. The central ministries and departments were also requested to submit their high-impact project proposals for the NE region.
The states and central ministries, their organizations and agencies were requested to submit their proposals, complete in all respects, along with checklists, clearances, certificates, etc., on the newly launched ‘Poorvottar Vikas Setu’ portal at the earliest. NITI Aayog and the line ministries were also requested to expedite their comments on the project proposals as quickly as possible, as this facilitates decision-making by the EIMC, the O.M. also stated.
It should be mentioned here that the Ministry of DoNER has approved Rs 1402.50 crore for four projects in Assam and Rs 4083.33 crore for 25 projects in the entire NE region, including Sikkim, under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE) scheme. The target for the completion of three projects in Assam has been set for 2026, and the fourth for 2027.
The PM-DevINE scheme was announced in the Union Budget for FY 2022–23. This is a new central-sector scheme for the entire north-eastern region with 100% central funding. The objectives of the PM-DevINE scheme are to: (i) fund infrastructure in convergence with the spirit of PM GatiShakti; (ii) support social development projects based on the felt needs of the NER; (iii) enable livelihood activities for youth and women; and (iv) fill the development gaps in various sectors.
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