North Eastern Region: Vision 2020

In a move aimed to improving the infrastructure in the country's north-eastern region, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh unveiled a Rs 31,000-crore plan to improve the road network in the region and to connect all state capitals in the region with rail links.Prime Minister also unveiled a vision document called the North Eastern Region Vision 2020, envisaging a slew of key infrastructure programmes. Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura are included in the "special category of states", as these states are economically underdeveloped. Besides, insurgency and poor market access have kept away private investment from these areas. Infrastructure deficiency remains a major concern of the government. We have decided to link all state capitals with rail lines and these projects have been given the status of national projects with a special funding pattern, the Prime Minister said.
The government will soon kick start a Rs 550-crore programme for electrification of villages in border areas of districts in the north-east, Singh announced, while releasing the vision document. Singh said development should be the dominant recurrent theme of discourse for the north-east unlike violence. He also emphasised that there is no grievance that can be redressed through a barrel of a gun."Let development now be the leitmotif of the north eastern region. Violence has no place in our society and our culture, he said and expressed confidence that all differences could be resolved amicably through discussion and dialogue. He said there was no grievance that could not be represented through a ballot box.Singh said that to bridge the infrastructure gap in the region, the UPA government has taken up several initiatives like setting up hydel projects, gasbased power plant and gas cracker project in different parts of the region. The Prime Minister said that along with infrastructure development, focus should be given on agricultural and rural development in the north east, which requires a second Green Revolution specific to the region.
Noting that the north-east has been blessed with natural and human resources that can greatly contribute to the region's development, he said state governments must also explore possibilities for industrial development based on natural endowments.
The Prime Minister said his government has made connectivity and infrastructure development the cornerstone of regional development in the northeast.
"We need roads, railways, airports, schools and hospitals but we also need institutions and processes that ensure sustainable development," he said, adding the government was committed to all round development of the region terming it as "topmost priority".
Referring to disadvantages faced by the region because of geography and history of partition, he said "history and geography cannot be changed but the constraints they impose can be broken".
The Prime Minister also spoke of new initiatives taken to strengthen education, especially higher education, and skill development for better employment opportunities.
The vision document, running into two volumes,seeks to alleviate poverty in all its dimensions and emphasises that the ‘Look East Policy' should focus on the region.The document envisages an ambitious strategy for the region to eradicate poverty and rope in investors. It deals with challenges to ensure peace and progress, empowerment of people by maximising self governance, rural development with a focus on improving agricultural productivity, augmenting infrastructure besides others. The document emphasises that the ‘Look East Policy' should give focus on the region and take a view that the Southeast Asia begins from the northeast and through opening up of trade routes, there could be accelerated growth and expansion of economic opportunities.
The vision document says the region requires a participatory development strategy, which calls for maximisation of self-governance.
There is a need for a complete shift in the development strategy and the planning process towards designing and implementing people-centric programmes based on harnessing resources of the region.
Only such a strategy can ensure inclusive development, help alleviate poverty and ensure a reasonable standard of living for every family in the region,the document says.