Northeast witnessing a new era of resurgence: M Venkaiah Naidu

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that visible transformation in Northeast is a clear evidence of resurgence in the region's pace of development which remained neglected for decades.

Addressing a special session of the State Legislative Assembly here, Naidu while describing the transformation as 'NER in NER', said, ''The New Era of Resurgence in the North-Eastern Region', a new sense of direction, a distinct acceleration in the pace of development began.

"The setting up of the North-Eastern Council (NEC) in 1971 under an Act of Parliament marked a departure from the earlier approaches as it set in motion coordinated actions and policies for the development of the region. This resulted in significant gains but not enough to realize fully the potential of the region and its people," he said.

Announcement of the 'Look East Policy' in the 90s of the last century set the tone for integrated economic development of the region by forging connectivity with the neighboring nations, Naidu said adding, the policy was given further thrust at the beginning of the century and taking note of the gulf between the intentions and actions on the ground, the 'Act East Policy' was launched with the new intent and energy in recent years.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi while pronouncing the Act East Policy in 2014 underlined that the northeast region would be its fulcrum under which the region would emerge as an effective growth engine for shared benefits," the VP said adding, culture, commerce, connectivity and capacity building would propel the policy.

Naidu also said that the Centre has also been making sincere and dedicated efforts to end violence in the region by finding solutions to the legacy problems by talking to all concerned. "As a result, there has been substantial improvement in the security scenario in the region. Compared to 2013, the insurgency related incidents declined by 70 per cent, civilian deaths by 80 per cent and casualties of security forces by 78 per cent in 2019. Signing of the path breaking Karbi Anglong and Bodo Agreements recently clearly indicates our collective commitment to herald peace in the region," he pointed out.

He pointed out that during the past, the problems of inadequate infrastructure and rising insurgency prevented private investment to flow into the region which had deepened the development deficit. Moreover, he said, inadequate and inequitable development widens disparities among the people especially in a region with wide ethnic diversity.

"Sustainable development can occur only if we can make it people-centric and environment sensitive. Democracy presupposes a central role for people's active involvement in shaping their own destiny. Effective participation of the communities in framing and execution of policies and projects is hence, very important," said the Vice President.

Naidu further stated that Arunachal and thre other NE States have resolved to make a break from such a past so as to script a new future by molding the present in that direction. The plethora of infrastructure projects completed and in progress and the evidence of socio-economic development is a clear pointer in this regard.

"India is moving rapidly on its developmental journey and so is the north east region. A report of the Indian Chamber of Commerce published in 2013 had stated that the North-Eastern Region which is heavily dependent on agriculture and services sectors stands way below in comparison with the rest of India in socio-economic indicators. But there seems to be a major difference now," Naidu pointed out.

The Vice President informed that in pursuit of its commitment to transform the socio-economic development landscape of the region, the Centre has undertaken several initiatives and interventions over the last 7 years. As against the gross budgetary support of Rs 36,000 crore for 2014-15, it has been raised to over Rs 60,000 crores for 2021-22, marking an increase of 90 per cent.

"To promote employment, 1.07 crore loan accounts were sanctioned with allocation of Rs 48,868 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna for the region. Under the PM's Employment Generation Programme 24,455 units were set up in the region providing employment to 2 lakh persons during 2017-20. Under the Start-Up India Scheme, 3,449 SC and ST women beneficiaries were sanctioned Rs 715 cores. 98,569 micro and small enterprises were sanctioned for Rs 4,685 crore under Credit Guarantee Trust Fund," he said.

Under the UDAN scheme, 108 air routes including tourism routes were sanctioned for the region and 44 of them have been operationalised. Over 190 road projects have been sanctioned for the region including 50 in Arunachal Pradesh under Central Road and Infrastructure Fund, Naidu said.

Construction of National Highways and other roads under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the region, the target has been increased from 466 kms in 2014-15 to 1,029 kms during 2018-19. 164 road projects covering 4,017 kms at a cost of Rs 44,805 crores are in progress in the region, he added.

Naidu further informed that Niti Ayog has come out with the North-Eastern Region Sustainable Development Goals Index and Dashboard - 2021-22 for 103 districts of the region to enable focused interventions based on identified gaps.

"The region as a whole has done well in respect of some goals like the Life on the Earth and Clean Water and Sanitation but needs to focus on other important goals like 'Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure' and 'Quality Education'," he added.

He further stated the State government in conjunction with the Centre has to ensure eradication of extreme poverty, reduce regional disparities, achieve gender equality and socio economic transformation of the lives of people.

"We should continuously enrich human capabilities by upgrading the skills of our youth, improving the quality of education and focusing on improving health care systems. Our existing governance structures need to be revamped by making them more responsive and citizen-friendly through greater transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption. Greater digitalization can certainly make this transformation possible by reducing needless delays, diversion and dilution," Naidu said.

The Vice President added that the whole country is looking at Arunachal today with renewed interest due to its potential and achievements of its people.

"Arunachal has the potential to become the fruit basket of India due to its natural resource endowments and also the frontier state can become a global tourism destination because of its enchanting landscape," Naidu said adding, the state could become a sustainable power house of the country if its 58000 mega watt hydro power potential is utilized.

The Vice President on the occasion also launched the coffee table book besides, dedicating the assembly library and Dorjee Khandu Auditorium to the people of the State.

VP concerned over rising disruption in Parliament, State Assemblies: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, on Saturday, expressed concern over the increasing distress among the people over the functioning of Parliament and state legislatures with rising disruptions and the way laws are being made.

Addressing the State legislators during a special Assembly session here, on second day of his two-day visit to the border State, Naidu said that people vote public representatives to voice their hopes and aspirations, to frame laws that address critical issues touching their lives. However, when they find that there is no serious discussion and tangible decision, they get disenchanted and their faith in the system gets eroded.

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