Comprehensive data on the total flow of funds is not available, but an assessment of the magnitude ispossible even on the basis of the fragmentary information that can be accessed. Thus, the Department ofDevelopment of North Eastern Region (DONER) alone disbursed Rs. 5.5 billion from the non-lapsable pool ofcentral resources in the financial year 2002-03. Even though no estimation exists regarding non-Governmentalfunding, including flows from foreign sources, an indication is provided by the SSESS study. The NGOs inMeghalaya alone received an amount of Rs. 1.3 billion from various funding agencies during the financial year1999-2000.
It is commonplace that, rampant extortion apart, leakages from developmental funds find their way into thecoffers of various insurgent groups. Conversations with a number of officials and junior level employees inManipur, for instance, reveal the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and the insurgents, which hasresulted in the near-complete abandonment of developmental activities and the diversion of funds into variousillegal sectors and private pockets. A statement by the Minister in charge of the DONER, C.P. Thakur, inGuwahati, put the leakage of developmental funds to the insurgents alone at 10 per cent of the totalallocations to the region. Officials and sources within the region, however, assert that this is, at best, amodest estimate.
Collusion between the NGOs and insurgents has long been an open secret. Such links include NGOs acting aspublicity managers for specific underground groups, as fundraisers, as overground facilitators of terroristactivities, as media handlers, as intelligence sources, and as conduits to and contacts with various politicaland administrative agencies.