KOLKATA: Swanky city buses
purchased under the central scheme have become a cause of worry for the
ailing state transport department. Though the state government has made
the payment, the department is yet to get the proportionate funds the
Centre had promised to share during the purchase of these 1,300 buses
under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Release of funds has been put on hold because the state is yet to
initiate some reforms in the transport sector and undertaking
city-specific urban planning measures such as setting up of dedicated
urban transport funds and measures to strengthen traffic management
mechanism.

However this time, a Union minister has taken up the state’s cause. Union minister of state for urban development, Saugata Roy, has shot off a letter to the urban development ministry over the Centre’s pending share yet to be released.

Expressing dismay over the issue, Roy in his letter to Union urban development minister Kamal Nath
wanted to know why the ministry did not inform him about the delay in
release of the remaining Rs 76 crore out of the Rs 145.40-crore fund for
West Bengal. The minister of state was amazed at the way he had been
kept in the dark.

The state government has bought 1,300 buses
under the JNNURM scheme for which the Centre allotted Rs 145.40 crore.
The Centre has only paid the first installment Rs 68 crore to the state
government and is yet to release the remaining Rs 76 crore that has been
put on hold for quite some time. And all this while, the Centre kept
asking for clarifications from the state government.

“It is true
that the ministry did not inform me about the matter in the first place
which Kamal Nath has conceded to me. The ministry had, however, sent a
letter to the state government asking it to undertake some pending
reform measures,” Roy said.

Roy also said that there were some
complaints during the Left Front government’s tenure when the Centre had
sanctioned the funds for JNNURM buses. “A report is being prepared
stating the facts,” Roy said. The Bengal government is already reeling
under acute financial crisis and the delay in release of funds is adding
to its woes. giving the funds to the state is only making things that
much more difficult.

The minister said that last week the
ministry had cleared funds worth Rs 110 crore under the JNNURM scheme
for setting up the Kamalgazi flyover. Besides, there are quite a few
JNNURM projects like the water supply projects at Madhyamgram and
Khardah that are awaiting final clearance.

According to the
proposal passed, the Centre has promised to fund a total of Rs 2,600
crore from the JNNURM funds. The state had earlier sent project
proposals asking for Rs 3,200 crore.