Agartala, Jun 28, 2012 : “The North Eastern Council (NEC), has not been able to achieve the objective of accelerating development process of the North Eastern region in order to bring it at par with the rest of the Country”, said Chief Minister Manik Sarkar addressing the 61st NEC Plenary Meet at New Delhi on Wednesday.
The 61st meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC), a regional planning body, was held in New Delhi to finalize strategies for improving connectivity and other infrastructure in the region.
Chief Minister, addressing the NEC meet, said, ‘the allocation of funds to the NEC has been grossly inadequate. Not only that, the funds actually made available to NEC have been far lower than the initial allocations or the approved outlays. The manner of functioning of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), which was created for speeding up the development of the North Eastern Region, also leaves much to be desired.
He suggested that DoNER should urgently develop the required administrative mechanism within the Ministry for processing and sanctioning of proposals.
“There should be no need for referring the project proposals to other Ministries, which defeats the very purpose of creation of a separate Ministry for Development of the North Eastern States. The process of sanction of projects and disbursement of funds needs to be speeded up considerably. The financial powers of the secretary of the Ministry should be increased”, opined Chief Minister.
‘Tripura is the 2nd largest state in NE region in terms of population and is in most disadvantageous position as far as the geographical location and infrastructure development is concerned, as the state is located in the extreme South-West corner of the region. Despite these factors, the share of Tripura in the funds allocated by NEC to various states has been very low and has been declining over the years’, said Sarkar.
He urged the NEC to work out a mechanism for more equitable distribution of resources among the states in the region.
He also requested NEC for speeding up the development of National Highway-44 and other important roads in Tripura, for extension of Railway line up to Sabroom and conversion of the same into Broad Gauge, for development of Agartala Airport and other Airports in the state, for completion of Agartala-Akhaura Railway link and other projects for connectivity with and through Bangladesh, for completion of power transmission, infrastructure, etc.
Sarkar reiterated that the faster development of NE region should be made the highest national priority and get due attention at the highest level by union government.
“The region has, for long, suffered from extremism, which has, to a great extent, been due to lack of development of the region. Speedy development of the region is absolutely necessary, if the region is to be saved from the curse of extremism”, said Chief Minister.
Members present included Governors of Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Tripura, Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland, Deputy Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Chief Secretary of Manipur, Minister Planning of Assam and three members of NEC.
It may be recalled here that the NEC meeting is held to discuss and take decisions on issues pertaining to development of transport, connectivity, telecommunications, civil aviation, railways, fresh investment and other key sectors which are crucial to the economic growth of the region.
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