Tripura Finance Minister urges special grants for TTAADC, border policing at NE meet

Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy on Monday urged the 16th Finance Commission to provide special grants for the overall development of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas and additional police forces in border areas to deal with the drug menace.

An important meeting on the North-Eastern states was held in New Delhi today on the initiative of the 16th Finance Commission.

Participating in the meeting, Tripura Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy highlighted in detail the need for infrastructure development in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) and urged the 16th Finance Commission to provide special grants for the overall development of the TTAADC areas.

Finance Minister Roy highlighted the infrastructural deficit of the state, especially the obstacles in road and rail connectivity during the monsoon season, and called for additional funds.

“He called for 20 per cent allocation for forestry and ecology. He also demanded special grants for the development of agriculture, fisheries, small, medium and micro industries, and tourism in the state. In the meeting, the Finance Minister presented all the information related to the development plan of the state. He also demanded adequate financial facilities from the 16th Finance Commission for the overall development and resolution of the infrastructural problems of the state,” said an official.

The official said that the Finance Minister also urged the Finance Commission to provide special grants to create infrastructure in the fisheries sector to increase fish production in the state.

“Moreover, the Finance Minister today raised the issue of a special infrastructure fund among other various demands. In the discussion on other problems of the state in the meeting, the issue of drug trafficking also came up, and the Finance Minister emphasised deploying additional police forces in the border areas to deal with it. He also pointed out to the 16th Finance Commission that the current unstable political situation in Bangladesh is creating obstacles in the development of the socio-economic conditions of the state,” he said.

The Finance Minister also said that the current situation in that country is creating obstacles in the field of medical tourism in the state. Considering the overall situation, Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy demanded that the 16th Finance Commission look at the current revenue deficit of the state with special importance.