The report, said the ministry of food processing was allocated Rs 44.10 crore during 1998-99 out of the total Central sector outlay of Rs 1,05,187 crore against the minimum requirement of Rs 200 crore every year for its survival.

The committee has suggested to enhance the proportion of allocation in favour of the ministry to 0.20 per cent of the total Central plan Budget from the present level.

It has also criticised the Planning Commission and the finance ministry for not making a realistic calculation of the needs of the food processing ministry for the entire Ninth Plan period.

``They have not appreciated the need for a higher allocation for the ministry to perform the task of linking the farmer to the processor and have chosen to slash down theprojected amount of Rs 675.12 crore to Rs 250.30 crore for the Ninth Plan,'' it said.

The standing committee has recommended that all schemes for North-East states should be 100 per cent Centrally funded and no stipulation for any contribution from state government should be there.

These states do not have much money to make matching contributions after they have spent large amount on the problem of tackling insurgency in the area and on dealing with special problems peculiar only to the difficult hilly terrains of the North-East, it said.

It has also asked government to discuss with North-Eastern state governments about the modalities of making land available to industries for setting up food processing industries.

The committee also regretted that there was no regular set up or wing in the ministry of food processing industries to continously doing research work and documentation which was an essential backup requirement to educate the negotiating delegation deputed to World Trade Organisation (WTO)and other international bodies.

It has suggested to allocate necessary fund for setting up such a wing in the ministry in the current financial year itself.