Tripura to defer delayed projects, divert funds to promising ones: minister Singha Roy

Opposition Leader Animesh Debbarma says the government may be trying to cover up a funds shortage.

Tripura to defer delayed projects, divert funds for promising ones: minister Singha Roy

Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy. (File)

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Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy said Wednesday the government would defer some of the slow projects and divert the funds to more promising ones to ensure that no fund is left unspent and returns to the Centre.

Roy made the announcement after holding a review meeting of all departments. “We held a three-hour-long marathon meeting today. Some departments were running slow. Our plan is to defer some projects running slow and divert funds to other projects that look promising. However, no project is being dropped,” he told reporters. “This was the second meeting with the secretaries, directors and other officials of all departments since the budget was presented.”

The minister said no department can hold back the progress of their work and that the finance department would have to be kept in the loop. “The next budget is a few months away. The government will be able to work at a higher pace through the finance department. We are sure that we will be able to achieve targets under our budget projects…,” he said.

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Expressing concern that delayed project implementation leads to return of funds to the Centre, the minister said his department had the onus of on-time implementation of projects. “The finance department can’t announce projects and sit back silently. The development pace will slow then. There is no problem with funds. No error can be made that can lead to problems after these schemes are started,” he said.

Roy said crucial discussions were held to fill up gaps in the progress of work and that discussions were held on revised estimates. The finance department and the planning and coordination department will now hold monthly review meetings with all departments, he added.

On the Rs 654 crore deficit that the last budget had to start with, the finance minister hoped most of it would have been bridged since the realisation of the state’s own tax revenue had been high.

“PM Modi has arranged for free ration for another five years. If he is thinking in advance, the state government is certainly not sitting back. We settled the pending DA for employees earlier this year. Further considerations are in progress,” he said.

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Reacting to his statements, Opposition Leader Animesh Debbarma said the government might be facing a shortage of funds and was likely trying to cover it up with stories of work delay.

“His comments make it clear that the government isn’t working enough. We have seen many governments in the past. Reviews were done at the block and village levels in the past. Ministers are now reviewing at Agartala alone. Why would the projects be deferred?” Debbarma said. “I suspect they don’t have enough funds. They will play with funds when they come again. This may be the plan. Let him come out with the truth. Why are they deferring work?”

The government presented a Rs 27,654-crore budget on July 7, with an increase of 9.87 per cent over the revised estimates of the last financial year. It included 13 new CM-centred projects, higher capital expenditure of over Rs 5,300 crore etc, and came three months after the Rs 9,066.56-crore vote on account.