Imphal, July 08: State sports-persons might have exhibited their class and commitment to top the medals tally during the 5th National Games hosted by Manipur in 1999 but the Planning and Development Authority (PDA) suffered serious setback as debts incurred in infrastructure construction, including games housing complex has practically crippled the Department.

In the past, PDA was looked upon as an agency able to extend financial assistance in the form of Cash Loan Housing Scheme (CLHS) but today the PDA is languishing in a deplorable condition as loans procured from Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco) could not be paid back.

Prolonged failure by the CLHS loanees to pay back the capital/interest coupled with the huge expenditure incurred in building constructions for the Games Village have had a telling effect on the functioning of PDA, according to sources.

Till June 30 this year PDA owed Rs 158.27 crores including interest to Hudco and there is every likelihood that the deficit amount will be adjusted from the State source as the Manipur Govt was the guarantor when an agreement was signed with Hudco to avail the loan.

The CLHS debt coupled with the expenditures for the National Games Games construction activities have reduced the PDA to a farce even leading to the agency loosing its character from being a loan provider to loan indebted.

As a survival method PDA has today resorted to allotting contract assignments for 'deposited works' and levying agency charges to maintain its momentum, explained the source.

Under the CLHS amount of Rs 4984.49 lakhs provided by Hudco, PDA distributed loans for the housing scheme to Govt employees through 13 phases.

Complication arised during the allocation for the 14th phase distribution as citing violation of agreement Hudco held back 50 percent from the total proposed amount of Rs 16.24 crores.

The loanees were nevertheless provided 50 percent as first instalment from the 14th phase allocation.

Even then PDA proposed for further fund allocation for the 15th and 16th phase resulting in Hudco sanctioning the said amount in January this year but had never materialised as necessary procedure for the provision that has to be signed within six month failed to take place till date leading to speculation that it might have been cancelled, suspected the source.

Besides the National Games burden PDA also has to face loan repayment failure regarding Rs 30 crores procured under Urban Infrastructure (UI) development programme.

The UI loan amount along with the interest has reached Rs 51.95 crores, detailed the source while revealing that the UI assistance could not be accounted for as no repert has been submitted to the Hudco on its utilisation.

Mention may be made here that despite Hudco resetting the interest rate in May 29, 2003 to 11-25 percent the PDA could not still comply to the new stipulation.

On the brighter side PDA managed to repay Rs 4.59 crores to Hudco even as monthly deductions are being made from Govt employees who procured loans under the CLHS but the collected amount seldom reaches Hudco.

The source also charged the State Government who put the collected amount to State account (8449) for not releasing the accumulated deductions to the PDA in time subsequently resulting in failure to reach Hudco who nevertheless continues to calculate compound interest and penal interest.

Complications are also reported during retirement of the Govt employees as Hudco refuses to provide no due certificate insisting the loaned amount had not been repaid inspite of the employee loanee contending that the Govt had already deducted the pending amount.

Meanwhile, Hudco is informed to have served a legal notice to Manipur State Apex Cooperative Housing Society for failing to pay back total amount of Rs 13 crores including the interest.

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