DoNER minister P.R. Kyndiah (top) and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh

New Delhi, Oct. 21: The ministry for Development of the Northeastern Region (DoNER) has come under the scanner of the Prime Minister’s Office.

The latter has expressed the need for a monitoring mechanism to ensure accountability for funds spent in the northeastern states.

The budget allocation for the region for 2006-07 is Rs 12,041 crore, which includes Rs 1,350 crore provided to the DoNER ministry. In the last fiscal, the region was allocated a Rs 9,308-crore budget, in addition to Rs 400 crore for a special railway project.

At a review meeting of the ministry held in the PMO on October 16, the office suggested that schemes and expenditure under DoNER should be monitored. “There is a lot of pilferage (of funds) somewhere,” a source alleged.

Sources in the ministry conceded that the point was discussed at the meeting but refused to divulge details. They said time-bound sanctioning of funds and implementation of programmes would improve the situation.

A monitoring mechanism, where the Planning Commission could be involved, is being considered. While it is easy to keep an eye on the bigger projects, implementation of many small ventures will also be monitored through independent agencies.

Discussing the Eleventh Plan recently, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised the growth rate bar to nine per cent. But the Northeast is still lagging behind in growth rate.

Sources in the Planning Commission said the DoNER ministry needs to upgrade to framing policies and programmes for the region instead of simply deciding on fund allocation from the non-lapsable central pool of resources. Ten per cent of the plan budget is allocated to each ministry or department for schemes in the region. If unspent, the money is transferred to the central pool the following year.

“The ministry should have its own panel of experts and not just a pool of officers,” said an official.

The northeastern states fall under a special category, which entails a 90 per cent grant from the government. The remaining 10 per cent comes by way of loans. But internal revenue generation is poor, with only Assam showing signs of “improving”.

The Planning Commission grants additional assistance to the states for their own projects but is critical of their unwillingness to raise resources through taxes or levies.

Since tribals do not pay income tax, many states in the Northeast, including Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, do not contribute to the central income tax kitty.

Arunachal Pradesh was given additional central assistance of Rs 236.02 crore for 2006-07, of which Rs 60.7 crore was meant for construction of the Assembly and secretariat buildings alone.