Our Correspondent
Kohima | March 12
Nagaland Tourism & Higher Education Minister Temjen Imna Along today assured that the Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) projects at Phenshunyu (Tseminyu District) and Kade (Phek District) will be made operational by 2027.
Earlier, replying to MLA Jwenga Seb in a starred question about the current status of the EMRS in Nagaland at the 8th session of the 14th Nagaland Legislative Assembly (NLA) here on March 12, Chief Minister Dr Neiphiu Rio informed that 75% physical progress have been achieved for EMRS Phenshunyu and 60% for EMRS Kade till date with 96.31% and 100% financial progress for EMRS Phenshunyu and EMRS Kade respectively.
Replying to the supplementary questions, Temjen stated that the EMRS projects fall under a centrally sponsored scheme of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Govt of India.
He informed the House that earlier phases of the scheme were handled by the Planning Department, and due to the passage of time and various factors, there were changes in the structural design of the EMRS school buildings.
He explained that during 2017–18, the scheme did not have the stringent guidelines that exist today. He also noted that the introduction of GST and subsequent changes in guidelines had affected project execution.
The minister explained that teams from Delhi also carried out verification visits and the projects had to be modified to meet updated requirements along with other technical requirements.
However, he said that most of the issues were resolved a few months ago.
He added that the project costs in the first phase were smaller than the allocations under the later phases. Nevertheless, the Government of India has expressed willingness to release the full amount for the work already executed.
Regarding cost escalation, the Minister said the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is open to considering revised costs, provided the department submits legitimate justifications for the increase.
While expressing satisfaction with the reply, Seb raised supplementary questions citing the importance of the centrally sponsored scheme, which is fully funded by the Government of India.
Referring to two EMRS projects at Phenshünyu and Kade, he pointed out that the Phenshünyu project was sanctioned in 2017, nearly nine years ago, while the Phek project was sanctioned in 2016, about ten years ago.
He questioned why the projects were taking such a long time and sought details on the project costs of the sanctioned works.
