Embankment project hits financial hurdle

KOLKATA: The new government's only announcement so far regarding land acquisition has run into financial hurdle. On June 4, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had announced that embankments would be built in areas hit by cyclone Aila in May 2009. But the project has not made much headway even as the CM called for acquisition of 6,000 acres beginning September 1.
In fact, many of the plethora of announcements made by the chief minister in the near-two-month tenure could be going through similar hurdles unless the Centre offers a bailout package.For instance, the "sanctioned" Rs 327 crore for carving out new police stations hadn't initially been cleared by the cabinet. Now that it has, officials are clueless as to where the funds would come from. The Centre still hasn't disbursed any of its special packages and the state government is consistently shying away from revising the tax structure for additional resource mobilization. Thus, the Mamata Banerjee government has done a ditto of its predecessor and resorted to market borrowing (Rs 1,000 crore) to pay salaries. Plus, 10,000 police recruitments from Jangalmahal were announced on Tuesday.
But then, the embankment building project seems to be standing out among the files piled up for want of a financial roadmap. This announcement has been loaded with implications on the new government's "touchy" land acquisition policy: it shuns forcible land acquisition and offers jobs for a member of a land-losing family. It also talks about increased solatium amount (up and above the compensation).
Only, the announcement is yet to be translated into action. In fact, the file has run into administrative hurdles, doing rounds at the irrigation department, the land and land reforms department and finally, the finance department. The file doesn't have the mandatory cabinet clearance. Secondly, there is no mention of the financial implications, a necessary prelude for sending a file for the Cabinet emboss. What's more, the finance department has raised several questions regarding building of the embankments.
A source in the irrigation department said: "The project talks about employment for land-losers but fails to detail the resources that must be mobilized for the government jobs." Most importantly, there is no mention of the total project cost. "Will the cost be generated from the already allotted Rs 5,032 crore by the Centre in 2009? Or will the jobs call for additional resources? In that case, where will the extra funds come?" Last but not the least, the earlier cost (Rs 5,032 crore) accounted for buildings embankments and acquiring land at the old compensation rates. The new rate (a hiked solatium) has not been accounted for.
Irrigation minister Manas Bhunia said on Tuesday: "We are proceeding carefully with the project. I can't spell out more at this point." Former irrigation minister Subhas Naskar said, "The Centre had given us about Rs 300 crore from the original allocation after the state gave its share of 25%. The government earns the grant as it lays down the project. We couldn't make much headway because land acquisition was an impossible proposition."
Finance department officials refused to talk about the embankment project or any other announcements made by the chief minister.