PMs high-priority minority dist scheme runs aground in states

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have accorded high priority to the multi-sectoral development programme being implemented in the 90-minority....

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have accorded high priority to the multi-sectoral development programme being implemented in the 90-minority concentrated districts of the country,but latest statistics reveal that the scheme has not taken off in 16 of the 20 states marked for the programme.

Minority Ministry statistics show that states like Jammu and Kashmir,Delhi,Arunachal Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh and Sikkim have not even submitted the development plans for their districts,while Bihar and Manipur were late in utilising the funds sanctioned by the Centre and Orissa is yet to seek the funds from the government.

According to the Ministry,the scheme is progressing satisfactorily only in West Bengal,Uttar Pradesh,Assam and Haryana. The Centre plans to spend about Rs 2,500 crore for the scheme,under which states recommend specific development projects for the districts identified. The Centre approves the plans after which the funds are released.

Bihar,which has seven minority concentrated districts,tops the list of states which are slow in implementing the scheme. The ministry has found out that the state simply sat on the funds allocated to it in February this year and released it to the district authorities only in August. Same is the case with Manipur,which has six such districts.

The programme is yet to take off in Jharkhand,Uttarakhand and Karnataka which received funds in the last three months,while Maharashtra is yet to seek release of the funds although its development proposals for three districts were cleared in July.

Interestingly,Orissa has not even bothered to seek release of the funds from the Centre although the development plan for its lone minority-concentrated district of Gajapati was cleared in February,a status report prepared by the ministry on implementation of the scheme showed.

Even in UP,the scheme has got going only in 12 of the 21 minority-concentrated districts. The state has the largest number of such districts and has so far been sanctioned Rs 180.57 crore out of the overall allocation of Rs 1015.70 crore.

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Bengal,Assam and Haryana have fared better. While Bengal has sent proposals for 10 of its 12 identified districts and began implementing the scheme in six of them,work has taken off in 11 of the 13 minority-concentrated districts in Assam.