No fund received from RD dept. — Peren VDB

Dimapur, Jan. 8 (EMN): The Peren District Village Development Board Association (PDVDBA) has said that the district has not received anything from grant-in-aid fund in the past three years. While expressing dismay over the controversy around the alleged delay in the release of grant-in-aid fund to the VDBs, the association has clarified in a statement that Peren District has not received any fund under the scheme till date The VDB association from Peren issued the statement after the department of Rural Development claimed that the grant-in-aid fund for the blocks under Peren and Dimapur districts and some blocks under Mon have been cleared, while the remaining blocks are yet to complete the required formalities. “The claims of RD assistant director, Hisinle Kent and RD director, Imlimeren Jamir that GIA fund for 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2017-18 have been released to all the blocks under Peren district along with Dimapur and Mon before Christmas is not correct,” read the statement from PDVDBA. It said that same can be confirmed from the Project Director, DRDA Peren and the Deputy Commissioner, Peren who is the Chairman of the district VDB. The VDB association from Peren expressed gratitude to the department of Rural Development for the help and assistance rendered to the villages of Peren district through different schemes in the past but said “the delay in release of the GIA fund has gravely affected minor projects in our respective villages.” “Having learnt that the GIA to the VDBs was cleared by the Finance department in the month of March 2018, we are of the opinion that the delay is unprecedented as the VDBs along with the block officers of the district had submitted the estimate for the GIA in the early part of 2018,” it added. The association also claimed that the district has also “not received any amount against MGNREGA 2018-19” and appealed to the concerned department to release public fund on time. It may be mentioned that former CM and the Leader of Opposition T.R. Zeliang had earlier questioned the state government on the alleged delay in release of INR 96 crore grant-in-aid fund to the village development board (VDB), to which the department of Rural Development responded that certain procedures have to be followed before such schemes are allotted to the concerned beneficiaries and that the fund had been cleared for from blocks, including Peren district.