Guwahati: NITI Aayog has constituted 17 Sub-Groups on 17 thematic areas of development in September 2020. NITI Aayog has not done any mid-term evaluation of the present status of different projects of North East specifically on education and other sixteen thematic groups including the export situation.
The evaluation of the Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Scheme is done by concerned Departments/Ministries. The third-party evaluation of schemes implemented by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region and North Eastern Council has been completed.
For the current financial year (2021-22), an amount of Rs 68020 crore has been earmarked by 54 non-exempted Ministries/Departments at the Budget Estimates (BE) stage for North Eastern Region under 10% GBS. During the FY 2020-21, Government announced a special economic and comprehensive package, which included Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) and three Atma Nirbhar Bharat (ANB) packages to combat the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to revive economic growth.
The Union Budget 2021-22 also announced an increase in investment in Health Infrastructure, Mega Investment Textiles Parks (MITRA), enhancing agricultural credit and infrastructure funds, additional budget allocation to MSME Sector, etc. Further, in June 2021, Government announced a relief package of Rs 6.29 lakh crore comprising of 17 measures to support the Indian economy in its fight against the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic which includes strengthening public health and provides impetus for growth and employment. Many of these programmes and policies will benefit the North Eastern Region as well.
The COVID-19 situation in North Eastern Region is regularly reviewed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and coordinated action is taken by the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region as well. To mitigate the difficulties of people in the North-Eastern States, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region/ North Eastern Council sanctioned untied funds amounting to Rs. 26.09 crore to combat COVID-19 pandemic in 8 NER States.
Projects worth Rs. 36.50 crore have also been sanctioned to North Eastern Region States for livelihood generation for returnee migrant workers due to COVID-19. Eleven projects amounting to Rs. 313.98 crore have been sanctioned by the Ministry of DoNER under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) for strengthening the health infrastructure of North Eastern States, especially for fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region has also coordinated with Central Ministries/Departments to resolve issues related to medical supplies, the creation of testing infrastructure, etc. During 2020-21, Rs. 322.89 crore was released to the North Eastern States towards the India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness Packages through National Health Mission (NHM). During 2019-20, an amount of Rs 111.34 crore was released to the North Eastern States under National Health Mission. For the containment measures allowed under SDRF, State Government was allowed to spend up to 35% of the annual allocation of SDRF during the financial year 2019-20. The ceiling of 35% was further enhanced to 50% during the financial year 2020-21 and 2021-22.