Mission sweetened with AMRUT funds
Officers maintain aim of both schemes is same
The TS government has diverted `500 crore released by the Central government under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation scheme to Mission Bhagiratha, its ambitious state-wide water supply scheme.
The Central government has released `553.66 crore for 11 urban local bodies that were identified under the AMRUT scheme. The money was meant to be used for water supply, sewerage and septage management, and green spaces and parks in these identified urban local bodies.
A major chunk, `501.46 crore, was allotted for supply of drinking water to these 11 urban local bodies. But the aim of Mission Bhagiratha is also to ensure safe and sustainable piped drinking water.
The water supply component proposed in 11 urban local bodies about `501.46 crore was diverted to Mission Bhagiratha since these local bodies were covered in the proposal of Mission Bhagiratha as a policy of TS government.
The state government has also diverted the SC&ST Sub-Plan funds to Mission Bhagiratha. Officials said about `7,500 crore has been spent for works taken up under Mission Bhagiratha.
The total cost of the Mission Bhagiratha project is estimated at `42,853.30 crore and the TS government has given administrative sanction for `37,813.01 crore.
The project depends for most of its funds on borrowings from financial institutions, apart from state government funding.
In the current financial year (2016-17), the state government has estimated a sum of `12,000 crore for this project. Up to January 2017, the state government had spent about `8000 crore. No funds have been allotted by the state government for this project in financial year 2017-18.
A senior official in the finance department said that the Mission Bhagiratha is dependent almost totally on loans from various financial institutions such as NABARD and HUDCO. He said that NITI-Aayog has recommended to the Central government that it sanction `19,205 crore to Mission Bhagiratha.
Regarding diversion of funds, the official said, “It is not diversion of funds, it is utilisation of funds.”
He said that as Mission Bhagiratha operates in SC& ST areas, the government is utilising Sub-Plan funds. “If the funds were utilised in other than SC &ST areas, then it could be called diversion of funds,” he said.
The aim of the Centre’s AMRUT and TS government’s Mission Bhagiratha are one and the same so AMRUT funds are being utilised for this scheme, the officer said.