Pranab promises special package for Arunachal
05 Dec 2011
The new chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Nabam Tuki, who has been meeting several union ministers in Delhi, has been assured of a special package by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, to help tide over a fiscal crisis.
China had blocked $60 million of funding for flood management, water supply and sanitation from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to Arunachal Pradesh in 2009. China has still not given up its claims on the state.
Tuki told Mukherjee that the central government had assured one of his predecessors, Dorjee Khandu, that providing funds for development projects in Arunachal Pradesh would never be a problem. The chief minister sought more than Rs1,600 crore for infrastructure projects in Itanagar, the state capital, and for an integrated river and flood management project, both of which were to be funded by the ADB.
The chief minister also complained about banks not extending loans to self-help groups in the state.
Earlier, Tuki met home minister P Chidambaram and sought his help in upgrading the police infrastructure in the state and to boost recruitment of new candidates. Chidambaram also promised him all help.
He also met defence minister A K Antony and told him of the lack of progress in road construction by the Border Roads Organisation, which was inconveniencing residents and even the army.
