It gives me immense pleasure to be amongst you in this ancient city of Prajyotishpur where I learnt the alphabets of the grammar of governance and also practiced it.
N.E.C.
The constitution of this august Council marked the beginning of a new chapter in concerted and planned endeavour for rapid development of the northeast region. Over the last thirty eight years, the Council has been instrumental in setting in motion new economic ideas aimed at removing the impediments that stood in the way of rapid economic growth. The Council has succeeded in affording several opportunities to its member States in this behalf.
Connectivity in the northeast region has enormously improved than what it was when the Council was established in 1972. The regular meetings of the Council, seminar and cultural exchanges among the States have brought our people closer to each other.
A lot more, however, needs to be done. Our traditional strengths in agriculture and horticulture, industries and handicrafts, culture and music, sports and tourism need to be maximized.
Sikkim
We in Sikkim are actuated by a strong desire to make all-round and rapid progress.
It has been the ambition of the people and the Government of Sikkim to have a dependable connectivity with the rest of the country and the world by road, rail and air and the Internet.
Fortunately, for me and for the State that during the period of my stay in Sikkim, some momentous steps have been initiated to this end.
On 28th February last year, we had the formal commencement of the work at the Pakyong Airport. The work is currently going on in full swing and by January 2012 the Pakyong Airport will be fully operational.
As regards the alternative road link, the project linking Chalsa (Kunya More) in West Bengal to Menla (Gangtok-Nathula Road) in Sikkim has been approved by the Government of India and preparatory measures have been initiated. Further, work on the double lanning of the NH-31A has also commenced.
Sikkim is connected to the Internet. Taking advantage of this, we have provided computers in schools, colleges, offices, etc. However, considering the terrain and the topography, it would be advantageous to have high capacity micro-wave wireless systems in place from Gangtok to Siliguri and to connect all the four districts in the State. The Government of India has initiated work in this behalf.
The Sikkim railway project is being taken up as a national project. The foundation of this rail line was laid on 30th October, 2009 by the Vice-President of India at Rangpo. In the first phase Rangpo will be linked to Sevoke station and in the second phase the line will be extended upto the capital town, Gangtok.
The first phase is targeted for completion by the year 2015. We in Sikkim will then have the opportunity to travel by rail to and fro to Siliguri and beyond. Besides making our journey much more comfortable and faster, this broad-gauge rail link would also bring about a tremendous change in the economy of the State by bringing down the cost of transportation and spurring industrial activities and tourism.
Tourism and hospitality industry has tremendous potential for the youth. Our aim is to maximize growth in the tourism sector. The youth of Sikkim have already begun to reap the benefits from these two important sectors. Eco-tourism, rural tourism, adventure tourism and culture tourism are our strong points.
Efforts are on to make Sikkim a prosperous State with effective governance, a thriving economy, abundant in power generation with necessary infrastructure and with skilled and trained manpower.
Sikkim and N.E.C.
Upto December, 2009, the investment made by NEC in the State is to the order of Rs. 185.32 crores. 43 schemes stands completed today against 81 sanctioned. The projects and schemes are being implemented in consonance with the guidelines of the NEC. Projects are regularly monitored by the State Government and are also inspected by the concerned officers of the NEC.
It may be recalled that Sikkim hosted the 48th NEC plenary meeting in the year 2003 and the 4th NEC Sectoral Summit on Tourism in 2007, at Gangtok with success. The Hon’ble Members had then seen the progress made by the State. I take this opportunity to invite all of you to come to Sikkim soon to see things that we have accomplished since then.
N.E.C. and Analytical Studies
On 7th January, 2009 while participating in the meeting of this august Council, I had said “there is great expectancy that the Council would provide analytical reports of high quality on subjects of common concern in the region”. What could be these?
First, in the field of rice production one find that North Bengal and the Brahmaputra Valley have slipped in per hectare productivity of rice in comparison to Bangladesh. I am informed that Bangladesh produces 37.8 tonnes of rice per hectare while it is 18.3 tonnes per hectare in North Bengal and only 14.6 tonnes per hectare in the Brahmaputra Valley. As regards soil fertility, the Brahmputra Valley may have an edge over North Bengal and Bangladesh. The availability of water is more or less similar. The main reason for Bangladesh having done better than us could perhaps be explained by the fact that they have handled distribution aspects of making available to the farmers high yielding variety of seeds and inputs like fertilizers, credit, and irrigation facilities better than us. Could this be examined in greater depth? Could we urgently catch up with Bangladesh?
Second, we are aware that some parts of the region have achieved more than 90 percent of literacy rate while some others are lagging behind. There are several pockets in the region that are characterized by educational backwardness. Our social attitudes and administrative inadequacies add to the enormity of the problem. Could the Council ask a reputed organisation to study as to what needs to be done to accelerate the pace of literacy in our deficient areas?
Third, in our quest for maximising our income, there are reports that we are indulging in over-exploitation of mines, forests and water-resources regardless of their adverse impact on our environment and eco-system. Are we stealing the resources of our grand-children? Are we handing over to our future generations an insecure future? This is another important area which needs our urgent attention.
Vision Document and Funding
We have made considerable progress in the current plan period. There is still a need for a larger investment in the various sectors so that our economy can catch up with the developed States of the country. The existing development lag must be bridged through creation of infrastructure and sustainable development programmes.
I feel this meeting is crucial as the end of the 11th Five Year Plan is in sight. It is time to retrospect and also to formulate our ideas as to what can be done to advance further during the 12th Five Year Plan.
Let the 12th Five Year Plan focus on drawing up a plan of action for phase wise funding of the Vision 2020 document of the NER. Unless concrete efforts are made on the investment front, the Vision document’s core aim of adopting a multi-pronged strategy to usher in inclusive development in the region will remain a distant dream.
Fortunately, the North Eastern Region is receiving increasing attention of the Government of India as well as the private sector and this has generated hope.
I thank you for your kind attention.
JAI HIND
Additional Points Raised in the Meeting
Devolution of Funds
In view of the NEC’s status as the regional planning body of the northeast region, there is a need to lay down guidelines for devolution of funds to States to ensure proper utilization of funds. One has seen avoidable delays in devolution of funds from the Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region to the NEC. The location of NEC Secretariat at Shillong and that of the Ministry of DoNER at New Delhi has added to the enormity of the problem as considerable time is wasted in correspondence and at times in physical movement of files.
Various suggestions have come up including that each State should be given 10% of funds leaving 20% fund to be decided by the Chairman, NEC keeping the objective of common interest of States in view. Assam, however, has been insisting upon giving priority on “population consideration”.
There is no doubt that Assam needs special attention since an overwhelming majority of people of the region live in Assam. Keeping this aspect in view, I would suggest that each State may be given 10% of funds while Assam may be given 20% and the rest of 10% could remain with the Chairman, NEC. An early decision may be taken by the Chairman. It is felt that adoption of committee approach may not help early resolution.
The overriding consideration in respect of devolution of funds, however, should be performance. Devolution of funds needs to be linked to performance as without this it would be the waste of resources. It may, therefore, be advisable for DoNER and NEC to evolve methods of oversight and circumstances under which flow of funds could be stopped to a particular project or to the State as a whole on grounds of leakage and non-performance.
Two Projects of Sikkim
As regards Sikkim’s two projects need special consideration and fresh approach by the NEC.
First, we are setting up a 575 bedded Multi-Specialty Hospital at Gangtok. The NEC may assist the Government of Sikkim both in terms of financial and intellectual support.
Second, we have gone ahead in respect of NEC’s idea of imparting skills to the youth of the region to make them employable in the market. We have set up a Capacity Building Institute at Jorethang in south Sikkim. The infrastructure facilities are already available and we would like this Institution to grow as a model Institution for the whole region. NEC may consider to become a partner and its modalities could be worked out.
General: Look East Policy
I would urge this forum to take up the matter with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of External Affairs in order to invite the Heads of South East Asian countries to come and spend a night or two in the region. Gangtok would be privileged to be the first to hold such a visit. This would go a long way in attracting investment in the region from the Asian neighbours. There is already a practice for the heads of states and heads of government to pay a visit to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra in particular.
