Council yet to release funds for 8 Northeastern states: Mukul Sangma

Former Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma has said that the Northeastern Council (NEC) has not yet released the funds to the eight Northeastern states for this year despite repeated reminders.

"While on one hand PM Modi has been talking of the Act East policy, on the other hand, the union ministers of DONER and finance have not disbursed the funds for the NEC this year. Their rationale is that they are changing guidelines of the Council, which could take a whole year. Does that mean that the NE states will not receive any funds till then," asked Sangma.

He alleged that since the chief ministers in the region, barring Sikkim's Pawan Kumar Chamling and Mizoram's Lalthanhawla, belong to the BJP or are regional allies, they have not spoken a word. "None of the CMs have raised a voice, because they are spineless and are afraid of the party's top brass," said Sangma.

Sangma said, going forward, the NECCC will be taking up crucial issues from the region, including the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, illegal immigration, growth and development and other contentious issues. The NECCC will be meeting sometime next month; the Bill and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections being issues of priority. He said that the NECCC will work around the party's political strategy in the region.

"The region has unique issues, some of which are contentious in nature and there's always the fear of these issues spilling over to another state. The party's leadership will sit and ideate about the political perspective in the region to ensure that the dangers of the BJP and RSS's divisive agenda does not vitiate the environment here," said Sangma.

The revival of the NECCC, on which the BJP's Northeast Democratic Alliance is modelled, has gained significance after the Congress has successively lost governments in the region. Currently, the BJP has governments in Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, with help from alliances with regional parties. The Congress's lone government in the region now stands at Mizoram.

Cong Agenda

The revival of NECCC, on which the BJP’s Northeast Democratic Alliance is modelled, has gained significance after the Congress successively lost govts in the region. BJP is now ruling most of the Northeast states, either on its own or in coalition.