Assam Minority Development Board (AMDB) Schemes yet to get pace

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: At the fag-end of fiscal 2019-20 the Assam Minority Development Board (AMDB) has started only four of the nine schemes under it. All the four schemes are related to training. Not completing infrastructure related schemes seems to be a chronic problem for the Board.

The Board started the four schemes also in November-December 2019, and all of them are at preliminary stages.

When contacted on the progress of the schemes, AMDB chairman Muminul Aowal said, “The four schemes which we’ve started are – ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery), BMLT (Bachelor in Medical Laboratory Technology), DMLT (Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology) and DPT (Diploma in Physiotherapy). Six-hundred trainees have been undergoing the trainings in Guwahati and Jorhat. All these four are two-year schemes.”

On the remaining five schemes, Aowal said, “In two schemes – the Rs 1.60-crore scheme for the distribution of e-rickshaws and Rs 50-lakh scheme for the distribution of solar lights – the process of e-tendering has been over. Processes like the selection of beneficiaries and giving away works have not been done as yet. In these two schemes, the beneficiaries will be given the benefits in April-May next year.”

The other three schemes, according to Aowal, are infrastructure development schemes. They are the Rs 50-lakh scheme for the renovation of the Haji Musafirkhana Building in Guwahati, construction of a Rs 50-lakh public auditorium at Sri Sri Gauriprasanna Nath Sitambar Temple (Jain Mandir) in Sonitpur district and the construction of three individual halls costing Rs 20 lakh each for the Sikhs at Raha, Christians at Lakhimpur and Buddhists at Tinsukia. The funds for these schemes are yet to be released. If the funds are released in March-end these schemes will be implemented next year.”

It is clearly seen that the Board has a chronic problem in completing infrastructure-related schemes unlike its performance in implementing training-related schemes. A scheme for the construction of girls’ common rooms and toilets in 18 schools taken up in fiscal 2017-18 has not been completed as yet.

When asked for the reason behind it, Aowal said, “For training programmes there are government registered institution. However, for schemes related to infrastructure development we need to prepare DPRs (detailed project reports), issue tenders, submit utilization certificates (UCs) etc. All these are time-taking exercises.”

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