THE NEW
- The Union Government has issued an order for setting up the ‘NITI Forum for North-East to identify various constraints on the way accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the North East Region (NER) of the country.
KEY-DETAILS OF NITI FORUM
- Composition: The new forum will have representatives from key central ministries and the state government of the region.
- It will be co-chaired by the Vice-Chairman of NITI Ayog and Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Development of Northeastern Region (DoNER). The forum will have its Secretariat in the Ministry of DoNER.
- Chief Secretaries of Northeastern states of Sikkim, Tripura Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram will also be members of the forum.
- Working: The form will work to address the problems faced by the region in areas of inclusive and sustainable growth and to recommend suitable interventions for addressing identified problems. It will also review the development status in the North-East region.
- Focus: The exclusive forum will look at various proposals both at the central and the state levels and prepare plans for the speedy development of the north-eastern region.
- The body may devise its own procedure to conduct it's business/meetings/fields visits or constitution of Sub-Groups etc.
| The National Institution for Transforming India also called NITI Aayog was formed through a resolution of the Union Cabinet on January 1, 2015. NITI Aayog is the premier policy ‘Think Tank’ of the Government of India providing both directional and policy inputs. While designing strategic and long-term policies and programmes for the Government of India NITI Aayog also provides relevant technical advice to the Centre and States. |
RECENT IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN NORTH-EAST:
In the last few years, the central government has taken major initiatives for the development of northeast region over the past four years.
- Amendment to Indian Forest Act of 1927: The British Raj’s ‘Indian Forest Act of 1927’ under which permit was required to cut bamboo for commercial use was amended and now the requirement is required to obtain for cutting of bamboo on non-forest land for commercial use thus, providing opportunities for employment to landless farmers.
- 100% Funding for the project: Recently, the government has decided to fully fund various central projects being undertaken in the region, instead of the existing practice of centre-state sharing in the ratio of 90:10.
- Bharatmala Pariyojna: Under the project, 5,301 kilometres in the region has been approved for improvement. Out of this, 3,246 kilometres of road is marked for the development of economic corridor in the northeast.
- The bidding process for the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has also begun.
- In Railway sector, gauge conversion is now completed and the operational medium gauge sections have been converted to broad gauge. Agartala-Akhaura (Bangladesh) rail link is at tendering stage.
- The construction of the New Greenfield Airport at Pakyog (Gangtok, Sikkim) has been completed and now the license is awaited from DGCA.
- Development of Barak river is taken up in two phases for shipping and navigation purposes.
CONCLUSION:
- Over the past few years, the region has been given the utmost attention, which it deserved. It was showed not only physical but also psychological outreach by the government to the people of north-east. Given its location, the North-East Region assumes the role of bridging the space between mainland India and other Southeast Asian nations. Now, the new improvement in the region will address the problems faced in the way of sustainable development and will work on the development proposals and their speedy implementation thus, transforming the region by rescuing it from the clutches of insurgency and sub-nationalism, and place it in the broader network of power, capital and markets.
