| Badal Choudhury, Tripura's minister for finance, public works, water resources, public health, engineering, science and technology, who was in New Delhi last week pursuing various projects, feels political considerations alone are stalling various programmes in the state. |
| "We do not know why the government is taking so much time in clearing the projects. We cannot think of any other reasons or difficulties than some political considerations. Because of this delay from 2002, various projects under irrigation, afforestation, flood control and development of roads and bridges are not taking off, which is stopping further development in the state as we had planned," Choudhury told Business Standard. |
| Choudhury said the World Bank and countries like Japan were showing keen interest in funding these projects worth around Rs 2,000 crore but the central government did not seem keen on approving the proposals. |
| "The earlier ban on projects under the programme was removed by the then Prime Minister Deve Gowda, which paved the way for states to procure resources from external agencies, but the Centre's attitude is not positive in this matter. While some proposals were rejected immediately, the fate of these six projects is still unknown," he said. |
| The minister said they had repeatedly sent clarifications and modifications in the projects as asked by the department of expenditure under the ministry of finance, which would forward the proposals to the funding country, but nothing was coming of it. |
| "Earlier, for states in the North-East, the Centre had to pay 90 per cent and the state 10 per cent while repaying an external loan. But the ministry now says the state's share in repayment should be increased, which is not acceptable to a state like ours," Choudhury said. The minister said even after 60 years of independence, Tripura did not have a proper road or rail network. |
| While there was no rail network construction beyond Agartala, the state also lacked a two lane road network, he said. |
| Choudhury met Union Minister for Water Resources Saifuddin Soz to remind him of the funds promised by the prime minister in 2004 under the flood management programme. |
| "We submitted a Rs 600 crore proposal for the purpose and even the task force set up for it submitted its report in 2005, approving an immediate sanction of Rs 92.5 crore. While the money should have been sanctioned within the Tenth Plan, we have not received even a single paisa for the programme," Choudhury said. |
| "Deforestation is a problem and whenever there are floods, there is severe damage to the paddy fields and roads, apart from several lives lost," he said, explaining the need for flood management in the state. |
| The minister, who also met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways TR Baalu, said he got the "same reply" from the minister "" that they were planning to upgrade National Highway 44 into four lanes. Earlier, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar also took up the matter with the Centre. |
| "This is after the promise made by the prime minister one year ago that the highway would be upgraded. When there is no dearth of money for projects like the Metro in Delhi, why are projects in the North-East pushed under the carpet?" said Choudhury. |
| "As students we struggled for the railway line up to Agartala. The Congress opposed our demand then also. Decades later, the work for the meter gauge network is still moving slowly, resulting in the absence of a rail link even to Agartala," he said. |
| "Instead of denying the project in one word they always say the project or proposals are under consideration. When asked for a clear reply on the matter we only get silence as answer," said Choudhury, who feels the government is run by adamant bureaucrats and ministers with political mindsets. |
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