Guwahati: The Opposition AIUDF and Congress said in the Assembly on Tuesday that only an average of 30 to 35 per cent of the funds earmarked in the 2017-18 budget had been released till January 31 although the state government had announced that 80 per cent funds would be released by December 2017.

Raising the issue during question hour in the budget session, AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam sought the government's reply as to why it had failed to meet its promise.

"Finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, while presenting the last budget, had said 20 per cent funds would be released in the first three months followed by 30 per cent each in the next two quarters. But only 30-35 per cent funds were released till December 31 and only one-and-a-half months are left for this financial year to end. Non-release of funds to the departments has seriously affected implementation of the schemes," he told the Assembly.

Islam said an important department like panchayat and rural development had received only 20 per cent of its total allocation of funds so far this fiscal while the public works department and fishery had got 25 per cent and the handloom and textiles department had received only 19 per cent funds.

"The finance minister had even announced that there would be a review of the budget implementation every quarter but we have not seen such a step yet," he added.

Congress MLA from Karimganj, Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha, said he had written to finance department officials asking the reason for non-release of funds but had not got any reply.

"The government has changed but the style of its functioning has remained the same," he said, supplementing Islam's complaint.

Industry minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, replying to the complaints on behalf of Sarma, assured the House that the remaining funds would be released in the next one-and-a-half months.

"Earlier, the process of releasing funds through treasuries used to take a long time but now the time gap between the request for funds by departments and release of the same by the finance department has been reduced through the online system."

Sarma was absent in the Assembly as he is busy with party activities in poll-bound Tripura. "The finance minister's long absence has affected the functioning of his departments. If he has to remain busy in party works, his portfolios should be given to others," Islam told reporters outside the Assembly.