PM Narendra Modi Reinvigorating North East India

The North Eastern Region of India is a  landlocked landmass which has over 5000 km of international border with Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. It is by and large isolated from the rest of India and is connected to the rest of the country by a narrow stretch of land called “Siliguri corridor” or “Chickens Neck” in West Bengal, which is about 22 km wide. The eight states constituting the North Eastern Region (NER) are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The region’s total geographical area is 2,62,179 square km which is 8% of the country’s total geographical area and its total population is 45,587,982 which is 3.1% of the country’s total population according to 2011 census.

The North Eastern states were re-organized mainly on linguistic basis and due to political exigencies emanating from so much of diversity in ethnicity, culture and levels of underdevelopment. They were not economically viable and had to depend heavily on Central Government for financial assistance, especially Plan assistance, which continues to be given on a 90:10 basis, i.e. 90% is central assistance while the state themselves raise only 10% of the budget and so fall under “Special Category” states.

Even after more than 4 decades of their existence, these states continued to be in the back waters of economic development and needed a great deal of concerted effort to bring them at par with the more developed states of the country. In September 2017, addressing the inaugural session of North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), BJP President Amit Shah eyeing power in all eight north-eastern states, said:

“The three year old Modi government had done several times more work in the region than the congress had in 65 years”.

“The region was top priority for PM Narendra Modi. Development of the eight states was a must for overall growth of the country.”

Emphasising the importance of NEDA, Amit Shah said:

“It is not only a political platform but a platform to culturally unite all eight north-eastern states and increase their involvement in national affairs.”

In order to address development issues of the NER, North Eastern Council Regional Plan (2017-18 to 2019-20) was launched with a focus on key sectors 1) Transport and communication sector  2) Power generation, transmission and renewable energy  3) Irrigation, Flood Control, Water Shed Management  4) Industries & Banking Sector  5) Tourism  6) Agriculture  7) Medical & Health  8) Human Resources & Employment  9) Science & Technology  10) Information and Public Sector  11) Evaluation and Monitoring. The NEC provides an effective forum for discussing interstate matters more comprehensively, including drug trafficking, smuggling of arms & ammunition and boundary disputes.

North East India is increasingly gaining significant strategic value due to PM Modi’s “Act East Policy” and ASEAN engagement becoming a central pillar of India’s foreign policy direction. North East India plays an important role as a bridge between India and South East Asia due to which the government is investing massively in connectivity and Infrastructure projects.

Addressing the plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in May 2016, PM Modi said:

“ The government has been focussing on the development of the North East region through its pro-active “Act East Policy”. As a part of this policy, we are focussing on reducing the isolation of the region by improving all round connectivity through road, rail, telecom, power and waterways sector”.

“ The North East is the gateway to South East Asia and we need to take advantage of this. We are opening up both road and rail routes to our neighbouring countries. This should give boost to the economic development of the region.”

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, while chairing the 67^th plenary session of NEC in Shillong on 9 July’18, talking about the internal security scenario in the north eastern states said:

“Private investment and the economic activity would not flourish in the absence of peace and normalcy. During four years of NDA government, the security situation has drastically improved. When compared to the 90s, the insurgency related incidents have declined 85 percent. There is 96 percent reduction in civilian and security forces casualties.”

“Today, Tripura and Mizoram are completely free from insurgency and there is tremendous improvement in other North Eastern states as well. Due to this marked improvement in security situation the AFSPA has been completely lifted from Meghalaya and its coverage area has been reduced in Arunachal Pradesh.”

Highlights of the Key Schemes of Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)

1. North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) with allocated cost of Rs 1600 crores.
2. Schemes of North Eastern Council (NEC) and North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS) with approved cost of Rs 4500 crores.
3. North East Venture Fund (NEVF) for start-ups in various sectors from health to media. Rs 100 crores allocated.
4.  Science & Technology Interventions in the North East Region   (STINER) to bring relevant technologies to artisans and farmers, especially women.

       Key Highlights And Achievements In North East India Under PM Modi

1. PM Modi on 24 September’18, inaugurated Sikkim’s first airport at Pakyong in a move to boost connectivity and tourism.
2. In a big boost to air connectivity and tourism, 92 new routes will be opened in the region  under second round of governments “Udaan” Scheme, announced by Minister Jayant Sinha at inaugural North East Development Summit in November’17.
3. In May’18, Indian Railways revealed plans to invest more than Rs 40,000 crore in infrastructure development and connectivity. The railways intends to connect the capital cities of five North Eastern states in the coming two years: Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Nagaland and areas bordering China, Myanmar and Bangladesh with the rest of the country including strategic lines for movement of armed forces. In the last three years, the government was successful in including Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura to the broad gauge map. As many as 29 new trains were introduces in the region in just one year.
4. Solar toilets were installed at Ibudhou Marjing hill Heingang of Manipur, making Manipur the first state in North-East and third in India to have solar toilets.
5. Mizoram became the third power surplus state in North East after Sikkim and Tripura after inauguration of 60 MW Tuirial hydro power project.
6. PM Modi in 2017 inaugurated India’s longest 9.3 km bridge, the Dhola-Sadia across Brahmaputra, connecting Dhola in Arunachal Pradesh to Sadiya in Assam at a cost of Rs. 2056 crore.
7. PM Modi in 2016 inaugurated a petrochemical project in Dibrugadh in Assam, a first ever such project in the northeast. The project is India’s highest wax producing unit using indigenous technology.
8. The government currently is making heavy investment in power transmission projects covering all the eight North Eastern states at a cost of Rs. 10,000 crore.
9. Modi government established two important projects in Assam: Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Limited and Numaligarh Refinery Limited’s wax unit, which would create huge job opportunities for people in the northeast.
10. In its first, the Modi government implemented an improved internet connectivity project for the North East region in collaboration with Bangladesh, which will make 10 GB of seamless alternate bandwidth available for the region.
11. In August’18, the NDA government passed a bill for India’s first ever Sports University to be built in Manipur.
12. In a landmark decision, the President of India in November’17 promulgated the Indian Forest (Amendment) Ordinance, 2017 to exempt bamboo grown in non-forest areas from the definition “Tree”, thereby dispensing with the requirement of obtaining a permit for felling of bamboo for economic use. The bamboo was legally defined as a "Tree" under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 which proved to be a major impediment for bamboo cultivation by non-farmers on non-forest land.
13. In August’18, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad released the “Vision Document” for a digital North East by 2022 that aims to enhance peoples' lives by capacity building of government staff and doubling BPO strength in the region. The document identifies eight digital thrust areas namely, digital infrastructure, digital services, digital empowerment, promotion of electronics manufacturing, promotion of IT and ITes including BPOs, digital payments, innovation & startups, and cyber security.
14. MoS Dr Jitendra Singh announced the launch of “Hill Area Development Programme” (HADP) for Northeast in Imphal (Manipur) on June 05, 2017. The announcement was made during a meet of Investors and Entrepreneurs, organised by NEDFi (North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd), with joint participation of the Ministry of DoNER and the Government of Manipur. The scheme will benefit the hilly areas of Manipur, Tripura and Assam.
15. On 16^th November’17, a two-day “12th North-East Business Summit” was inaugurated by MoS Dr Jitendra Singh in New Delhi to explore the scope for business opportunities in the North-Eastern region of India in the area of Infrastructure and Connectivity with Public Private Partnership, Skill Development, Financial Inclusion, Services Sector Development- Particularly in Tourism, Hospitality & Food Processing.
16. Conference titled “North East India: Organic Production Hub; Opportunities Unexplored” was organized during the prestigious World Food India 2017, on 4^th November’17 in New Delhi. NER has about 50 species of bamboo, about 14 varieties of banana and 17 varieties of citrus fruits. The NER also has huge production of fruits such as pineapple and oranges. There are 3 Mega Food Parks in North East, in the states of Assam, Tripura and Mizoram. The state of Sikkim has been declared the first Organic State of India.
17. The first meeting of the Japan-India Coordination Forum (JICF) for DoNER was held in New Delhi on August 03, 2017. Priority areas of cooperation identified by Indian side included Connectivity and Road Network Development, especially inter-State roads & major district roads; Disaster Management; Food Processing; Organic Farming and Tourism.