The Central government has promised to invest Rs 2,587 crore in various schemes and projects in Tripura, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said here on Wednesday.Deb, who returned from a two-day visit from the national capital along with Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarma, said they had met President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh and other ministers on the state's problems."During my two-day stay in the national capital, I met more than 12 Central ministers and discussed various central schemes as well as problems of Tripura. As per the ministers' assurances, Rs 2,587 crore would be spent in different urban, rural and educational schemes and projects," he told media persons here.The implementation of a range of central schemes and projects would create employment opportunities for 12,200 youth, he said.Deb said that the previous Left Front government did not conduct proper geo-tagging of assets created under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act or submit utilisation certificates of many central schemes, resulting in crores of funds being held up.
"The ministers have assured me to release Rs 214 crore under MGNREGA, Rs 350 crore under Special Plan Assistance, Rs 241 crore under urban development schemes, and Rs 292 crore under housing scheme by next week," he said, adding that since the Bharatiya Janata Party is now ruling both in Tripura and at the centre, there would be no problem of funding.He said that he had also held discussions over phone with Union Road and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, who assured to undertake the works for the development of various National Highways in the state at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. This would also ensure direct or indirect employment for 15,000 to 20,000 youth.Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram assured Rs 384 crore for setting up 24 Eklavya model residential schools and associated hostels in tribal areas over the next three years in addition to the recurring central funding of Rs 50 crore annualy, while Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan promised providing 25,000 connections per month under Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana scheme for free LPG connections for cooking.Referring his discussion with the Development of North Eastern Region Minister Jitendra Singh, Deb said that the state's world famous "Queen variety Pineapple" would be made available across the country and abroad.Agreeing to the demand of setting up an institute under Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and Technology (CIPET), Union Chemical and Fertilizers Minister Ananth Kumar also assured to ensure direct employment to about 5,000 youth annually and agreed in principle to set up a "Plastic Park" in the state, he added.