Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev demands more funds for DoNER

NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP Sushmita Dev on Monday said that the Northeastern States lack basic health and education facilities.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha during a debate on grants to Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), she said: "Despite being strategically the most important part of the country that shares its borders with other countries like China, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, being rich in biodiversity and having the highest literacy rates, the Northeastern States lack basic health and education facilities."

The MP from Assam further said that the DoNER Ministry operates on 10 per cent of the entire Budget of 54 ministries of the country. In 2015-16 the budget for the ministry was Rs 2,363 crore and as of 2022-23, it is only Rs 2,800 crores.

She urged the Government for more budget allocation to the Northeastern States so that work on major infrastructure projects can be completed in time.

"All money allocated to NE states is dependent on their administrative strength and in the State of Assam, the whole administration has been doing the work on the National Register of Citizens (NRC) for the last two years...how will they work on the tasks of the DoNER Ministry?" asked Dev

Meanwhile, BJP MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa said that the Assembly election in Manipur passed very peacefully as a result of the work done by the DoNER Ministry in the entire region.

Earlier, participating in the debate, Congress MP Ripun Bora said that the Government has been diluting the dream of the former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The lawmaker also claimed that there is slow implementation of the projects in the Northeastern States.

However, BJP MP Bhubaneswar Kalita praised the Government for the all-round development of the entire Northeastern region. He said that most of the States in the region, including Assam, have completed the vaccination and the health infrastructure in Assam is "taking care of the neighbouring States."

"All oxygen plants in Assam are operational and there would not be any shortage of oxygen in the region," he added.

Kalita also said that a sports university is being set up in Manipur to produce more and more sportspersons.

Accusing the Central Government of making "low budgetary allocation", Independent Rajya Sabha MP Ajit Bhuyan said that people sitting in Delhi "will not understand the culture and aspirations of the Northeastern people, regardless of the parties that come to power in the region." (IANS)

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