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GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING OF NORTHEAST
Though it has been repeatedly held up as the gateway for India's Look East policy, the country's growth story has left the region behind. While the Northeast itself aspires to take advantage of India's increasing ties with East Asia, it is hardly in a position to do so. The Northeast India faces several problems, which have prevented it from developing at par with the rest of the country. To understand those problems better it is essential to look at the Geographical aspects of the Northeast region.
Therefore, these few geographical aspects of the Northeast region are somewhat responsible for the backwardness of this region.
NORTHEAST - AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
The Northeast region of India is economically and socially somewhat backward as compared to the mainland. There are several factors responsible for this underdevelopment like Historical, Geographical, Cultural, Social etc. We attempt to identify those factors and analyse how they have been responsible for the underdevelopment of the Northeast region. It is true that compared to the several of the Indian states, the Northeast has witnesses a tardy progress but there are several fronts on which the Northeast states rank higher than rest of the states
However, despite these positive aspects, the Northeast region has largely lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of growth and development. The factors responsible are -
With the partition of India, trading routes with rest of the world were closed which seriously damaged the economic and growth potential of the region.
Infrastructural bottlenecks have also crippled the industrial growth The tea industry is the major industry and it is suffering due to – o Old age of plantations thereby leading to reduced productivity o Competition from other countries like Sri Lanka o Land erosion in plantations o Conflicts between owners and labour over remuneration and welfare benefits
Jhum cultivation is not just low in productivity but is also responsible for large scale deforestation and soil erosion.
There is oil but the reserves are of less quantity accounting for a very small proportion of total domestic production The region is deficient in industrially useful metals like iron, aluminum, copper, zinc, tin, lead and nickel etc. Mining is indiscriminate and unregulated thereby leading to wastage of precious mineral resources and land degradation
o Poor education infrastructure that has led to poor development of Human capital o Poor education has led to affluent families sending their children outside the region to big cities of India or abroad thereby leading to brain drain o Substance addiction is another issue that has almost 30% of region’s youth under its grip. The proximity to Golden Triangle is a factor behind this. o The pandemic of HIV/AIDS spreading fats in Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram is a matter of concern. o The inter-tribal issues, the issues over tribal identities & rights also have the recipe to unsettle the social order and peace in the Northeast region
Steps taken by Government
Given the series of Social, Economic, Geographic and security related problems the Northeast region faces; the government has taken a series of steps for the development of the region. These are - North East Council - With a view to give an undivided attention to the development of the region, in 1971, the Government of India set up the North Eastern Council. All the eight states are its members. With headquarters in Shillong, it functions under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MD0NER). The council, initially set up as an advisory body, now has been sanctioned as a regional planning body since 2002. They now discuss any matter in which the North Eastern States have a common interest and decide the action to be taken on any such matter.
MoDONER - The Ministry for Development of North Eastern Region established in September 2001, which functions as the nodal Department of the Central Government to deal with matters related to the socio-economic development of the eight States of NE, act as a facilitator between the Central Ministries/ Departments and the State Governments of the North Eastern Region in the matters of economic development including removal of infrastructural bottlenecks, provision of basic minimum services, creating an environment for private investment and removing the impediments to lasting peace and security in the region. Various organisations/agencies under MoDONER –
NLCPR - During the Atal Bihari Vajpayee rule, the union ministries were mandated to spend 10% of their budget allocations for the development of North-Eastern region. However, in case the ministries failed to spend the said amount for north-east development purpose, those unspent funds would be diverted to a Non-lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR). The Ministry for Development of Northeastern Region allocates funds from the NLCPR to various Northeast states for infrastructure projects. Ministry of DoNER allocates funds under two schemes viz. NLCPR (State) and NLCPR-Central for which annual budgetary allocations are provided in the normal budgetary process.
Recent Steps taken –
The latest event of Global Investors’ Summit in Guwahati held on February 3, 2018, displays the sincere approach of the Government towards bringing overall prosperity in the Northeast region by showcasing the investment potential of the region.
Way Ahead
Manjula Wadhwa, Asst. General Manager NABARD proposes a six-fold strategy for the comprehensive development of the Northeast Region –
GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES IN NORTHEAST
North-East Region (NER) is one of the backward regions of India characterized by low per-capita income, lack of private investment, low capital formation, inadequate infrastructure facilities, geographical isolation, and inadequate exploitation of natural resources like minerals, hydro power potential, and forests. Its own tax collection and internal resources are quite meagre rendering the region dependent on central devolution.
Though government of India has to pay more attention to the north-east, one cannot escape from the harsh reality that the states too have to gear up their administration. Inclusive development must aim at economic growth with elimination of poverty, improvement in social indicators, and reduction in inequality as equally important goals, while ensuring at the same time that there is no damage to the environment.
However, translating these macro- policies into action in the northeast would need good governance and accountable administration, without which even the best policies and laws remain on paper only, or result in leakages. Unfortunately governance in the NER at the state and district levels is quite weak, manifesting itself in non- utilization of funds, lack of supervision, and poor outcomes. These are the key factors impinging on development and social indicators that need to be reckoned with.
Underutilization of Funds: Under NLCPR, all non-exempt Union Ministries are required to mandatorily earmark 10% of their Gross Budgetary Allocation (GBA) annually for the North Eastern Region. But there are certain governance related problems leading to underutilization of funds under NLCPR –
Poor Monitoring & Evaluation Systems - The data collected are not normally subjected to any regular checks. There is a failure of the departments in verification of their correctness and almost total absence of accountability procedures. For instance, according to the state governments the percentage of severely malnourished children in the north- eastern states is much less than I per cent, whereas independent verification by UNICEF in 2014 has reported a much higher figure varying from 3.5 per cent in Manipur to almost 16 per cent in Meghalaya and Tripura.
Absence of e-governance - A World Bank report on Assam observed in 2014 that there was absence of a comprehensive ICT Plan, and there was no common framework for service delivery, including a strong and supporting ICT infrastructure. Similarly, the reviews on National Health Mission in Nagaland found that the state is yet to roll out any telemedicine or m-health initiatives. So far, most of the states are yet to generate RCH (Reproductive and Child Health) registers and create a system of computerized record keeping and tracking of beneficiaries by ANMs. Due to lack of computerization, there is backlog in payments of ASHAs.
Redundant Bureaucracy - The bureaucratic mix is highly skewed in favour of high number of group C and D staff and shortages continue in key sectors for frontline staff like doctors, teachers, judges, policemen etc. This not only distorts the functioning of government but also leads to high degree of Non-Plan expenditure.
Bandhs - The other problem peculiar to the NER is the culture of 'bandhs' (state closure) widely prevalent in Assam, Manipur and Nagaland that goes against the notion of individual rights (issued by armed groups who invariably represent only themselves). It is a stigma on the effectiveness of local governance structures, and is unconstitutional to say the least. 'Bandhs' in Assam have a rippling effect all over the Northeast as most basic commodities like rice, pulses, medicines, vegetables, poultry, etc., reach the other states via Assam either by road or by rail.
What needs to be done? The Union Government should therefore reiterate its commitment to uphold the Constitutional provisions enshrined in Article 371 (Special Provisions with respect to certain states including the North-East States), expand the scope of the Sixth Schedule (concerning the tribal areas of the region), and empower the autonomous council institutions. Enhanced administrative and financial empowerment of these councils is likely to lead to a deeper sense of involvement of the people of these units, with their own socio-economic progress and programmes at the national level and improved overall developmental outcomes. The division or splitting up of the present Northeast states to satisfy local ethnic groups at the sub-state level is no solution. A solution, which satisfies some ethnic groups but leads to anxiety and apprehension among others who might be in harmony with the existing state structure, has to be avoided. History testifies to the fact that the sudden creation of a full-fledged, economically unviable, state like Nagaland in 1963, when Manipur with an earlier functioning princely state system was not simultaneously accorded full statehood, is perhaps the prime cause for Meitei groups in Manipur to turn towards insurgency. Improvement in e-Governance is required to accomplish reform by fostering transparency, eliminating distance and other divides, and empowering people to participate. Good governance calls for probity, transparency and accountability.
By: Deepak Hooda ProfileResourcesReport error
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