No utilisation certificate, WB police funds withheld: Govt

NEW DELHI: Home ministry Wednesday said it has released central assistance of only Rs 7 crore for modernisation of police to West Bengal in the last five years, against the total allocation of Rs 117 crore under the head. This, it said, was on account of unspent balances and non-submission of utilisation certificates by the state govt.

In reply to a question by BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya in RS, Mos (home) Nityanand Rai said Bengal govt, as of July 31 this year, had an unspent balance of Rs 12.5 crore from the funds released to it under the central scheme 'assistance to states and UTs for modernisation of police' (ASUMP). Also, the state was yet to submit a utilisation certificate .

Sharing data on the allocation and release of funds to Bengal, Rai said no funds were released in 2021-22, 2023-24 and 2025-26 (so far), despite allocations ranging from Rs 12.2 crore to Rs 28.9 crore. There was a release of Rs 6.5 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 54 lakh in 2022-23, with the latter approved as special grant under the home ministry contingency reserve.