Koraput spends only 13% of anti-Red scheme funds

KORAPUT: The Maoist-hit Koraput district has failed to utilize funds under Integrated Action Plan (IAP) for developing infrastructure critical to fighting the Red outlaws. Only 13% of Rs 30 crore, sanctioned by the Centre for 2014-15, was put to use till December 31, official sources said.
During the ongoing financial year, the administration took up 555 projects, including construction of roads, culverts, electrification, supply of drinking water and education, in the Maoist-affected blocks of the district.Till December-end, only 51 projects worth Rs 3.88 crore were completed. The remaining projects are in different stages of construction, according to data available with the district planning and monitoring unit (DPMU).
"The Centre releases funds to strengthen infrastructure in Maoist-hit regions. People here are deprived of the benefits because of the administration's lackadaisical attitude," alleged Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati (Congress).
Since 2010, the Centre has been providing Rs 30 crore each to 88 Left-wing extremism affected districts in the country. In Odisha, 18 of the 30 districts are covered under IAP. Those include Deogarh, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Sambalpur, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Koraput, Balangir, Sonepur, Ganjam, Nayagarh and Jajpur.
Koraput has never fully utilized IAP funds, although Odisha's expenditure under the scheme has been satisfactory and the state government has time and again been asking the Centre for more funds under IAP.
In 2010-11 and 2011-12, Koraput could spend Rs 51.82 crore out of Rs 55 crore with 52 incomplete projects. The next financial year saw a similar trend with 254 unfinished projects. The district could expend Rs 27.12 crore of Rs 30 crore. In 2013-14, the spending dropped to Rs 20.90 crore with 120 projects remaining incomplete.
Official sources attributed it to delay in selecting projects and lack of coordination between the Centre and the state. "The district received funds in October 2014. The projects are in different stages of completion. We hope to finish those by March-end," said deputy director of DPMU (Koraput) Sanjay Kumar Nanda.