In the last three years, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has found irregularities in three of the five cases of alleged corruption. However, the extent of leakage could not be determined, said Minister for DoNER, Bijoy Krishna Handique, in a Rajya Sabha reply.
According to the CVC, they have dealt with a total number of five cases of alleged corruption, pertaining to the Ministry of DoNER during 2007-2009, added the Minister.
"No exclusive wing has been established in the CVC for the NER, informed Handique.
Adding further, the Minister said that his ministry lays major emphasis on monitoring and evaluation of its schemes and programmes. There is a rigorous scrutiny of the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) within the Ministry, as well through line ministries, he said.
In addition, the Ministry has also set up a technical cell to facilitate the process. The Ministry follows a strict regime of utilisation certificates and field visits to monitor the implementation of its schemes in the north-eastern States, added Handique.
With huge sums of Central funds being pumped into the North-east, the focus has once again shifted on monitoring and curbing leakages of funds.
BJP's Kalraj Mishra, who tabled the question, wanted to know whether the CVC has identified massive leakage of Central funds earmarked for development of the NER and recommended an exclusive wing of CVC for the North-east.
With the unearthing of the Rs 1,000-crore scam in Dima Hasao district being probed by NIA and CBI separately, and admission by DoNER of CVC detecting another five cases of leakage, the pressure is now expected to mount on the Minister of DoNER to train its focus on vigilance and monitoring of utilisation of Central funds.
The serious angle of some of the Central funds reaching the militants has added to Centre's scare. Several such cases of siphoned Central funds being cornered by the militant outfits in Manipur had led the Centre to suspend release of Rural Development funds couple of years back.(AT)
