Dr Jitendra Singh hails the quantum jump in the Budget allocation for North East in Union Budget 2016-17

Focus on organic value chain development, connectivity and skill development

The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has hailed the quantum jump in the Budget allocation for North East Region in Union Budget 2016-17. He said that in addition to all other allocations, the single most important announcement of exclusive and unique “Organic Value Chain Development” scheme for Rs. 115 crore will prove to be a game-changer for the entire region. Not only will it help in boosting the enormous unexplored potentials of organic entrepreneurship in the region but would also comfort the entire region into a favourite destination for new start ups from across the country to come to north east. He said that the emphasis of the current Government has been on the promotion of organic farming and North east has become an important destination for that with state of Sikkim being declared as the first Organic state of India by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi recently. He was addressing a press conference here today.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Budget for Ministry of DoNER has been increased from Rs 2334.50 crore to Rs 2,400 crores this year as compared to previous year, The Minister said that the main emphasis of the Budget allocated for north east is on the overall development of the region. The provisions have been made for connectivity in north east region, skill development and organic value chain development among others.

The Minister said that a budget of Rs 33097.02 crore has been allocated for the North Eastern region across 56 ministries. This is 14% higher than the BE of Rs 29087.93 crore for previous year. Under Non-Lapsable Central Pool Reserve (NLCPR), BE has been increased from Rs 90 crores to Rs 200 crores in 2016-17. The budget allocation for North East Council schemes has been increased from Rs 700 crore to Rs 795 cores this year, he added.

The Minister also informed that Rs 150 crore have been provided for the newly launched NE Road Sector Development Scheme. He said that this scheme will be helpful in the development of the inter-state roads in the north east. In addition, he said Asian Development Bank (ADB) will spare funds from its own sources for construction and maintenance of roads in the north eastern region.

Dr Jitendra Singh also mentioned increase in the Budget allocation for North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFI) from Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 75 crore which will further boost the Prime Minister’s Start-up India programme in the region. Similarly, skill development Budget enhancement from Rs. 16 crore to Rs. 56 crore will further supplement the Start-up Programme, he said. In addition to all the provisions like 3 years tax holiday and 3 months exit period announced by the Prime Minister, the DoNER Ministry will also offer “Venture Fund” for new entrepreneurs so as to ease their financial liability, he added. The Budget also has a provision of Rs. 150 crore for rural livelihood, he said.

Besides the above provisions, emphasis has also been laid on the rural livelihood in the north east and BE for this purpose has been enhanced to Rs 150 crore this year.

Showcasing the north east to the rest of India is very important for the development of the region. The budget allocation for this purpose has been increased from Rs 10.50 crore to Rs 17 crore this year, the Minister said. He said that this is almost 60% more than the last year allocation. In this regard, he mentioned that the Ministry of DoNER has recently organized ‘Destination North East-2016’ in New Delhi during 12th to 14 February, 2016. Now, the Ministry intends to organize similar events, especially, so as to showcase the strengths, the potentials of the North East, especially in the fields of Handicrafts/Handlooms and exhibition of/ sale of produce of North East. Such events have been planned to be organized in Mumbai, Bangalore in the first quarter of 2016-17 financial year.

Laying emphasis on the Government’s efforts to improve the connectivity in North east, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the main initiative of the DoNER Ministry as a part of the ‘Act East Policy’ and is to provide funds to link Railways between India and Bangladesh. The budget cost for Indian side Rs 587 crore would be provided by the Ministry of DoNER, he added.

There had been repeated attempts from our side, the Minister said that in spite of more than a dozen universities functioning in the State of Assam, the young students felt constrained to move out to other cities like Bangaluru and Pune for higher education and for the matter of gratification, a special amount of Rs. 10,000 crore for countrywide upliftment of higher education institutions will spare a special share for North Eastern Region and Rs 1623 crore has been allocated to north east for this purpose, he added.

Dr Jitendra Singh also informed that Rs 300 crore will be spared for the Bodoland Tribal Council by the Government and their demands would be considered in course of time subsequently.

Overall Dr Jitendra Singh said, the budget allocations for Northeast this year are not only substantial but are also very imaginative and hoped that the State Governments will respond in similar vein by offering cooperation through timely submission of DPRs, utilisation certificates, State sharing of 10 per cent of funds etc.

Shri Naveen Verma, Secretary, Ministry of DoNER and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.

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Assessment of Infrastructural Constraints in N-E Region

The North Eastern Council has been conducting assessment of the various socio-economic challenges and infrastructural constraints being faced in the North Eastern Region, from time to time. Major ones are Perspective Transport Plan for Development of North Eastern Region which became the basis for the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE), Feasibility Study on Comprehensive Power Transmission and Distribution in North East which formed the basis for Comprehensive Scheme for Transmission and Distribution in NE States, the North Eastern Region Vision-2020 Document, Feasibility Study Report on Poverty Eradication in NER, Comprehensive Tourism Master Plan for North Eastern Region, Health Workforce Development Plan for NER and Study on Air Connectivity in NER.

Since its inception the North Eastern Council has invested over Rs.12756 crore for development of the North Eastern Region in sectors such as transport and communication for roads & bridges, bus & truck terminus, airport and air connectivity; power generation and transmission; irrigation and water management; education, community infrastructure and sports; medical and health; agriculture and allied activities; industries; tourism; science and technology; and livelihood.

Physical achievement of the North Eastern Council includes construction of 10949 km. of roads of Inter-State nature and roads of economic importance. 11 Inter-State Bus Terminus and 3 Inter-State Truck Terminus in the North Eastern States. The North Eastern Council also funded 60 percent of the project costs for upgradation of twelve airports through Airport Authority of India, namely, Guwahati, Silchar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Lilabari, Tezpur, Umroi, Lengpui, Dimapur, Imphal, Agartala and Tezu airports.

Besides, the North Eastern Council is instrumental in establishment/funding of several important institutions in the North Eastern Region that include North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd., (NEEPCO), North Eastern Handicraft and Handlooms Development Corporation Ltd., (NEHHDC), North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM), Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre (CBTC).

A livelihood project, the North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) was initially funded jointly with International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and subsequently continued with domestic funding. The project covers eleven Districts in four States, namely, Dima Haso and Karbi Anglong in Assam; Senapati, Ukhrul, Chandel and Churachandpur in Manipur; West Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills in Meghalaya; and Changlang, Longding and Tirap in Arunachal Pradesh.

The number of projects sanctioned and the amount of funds released by the North Eastern Council during 2012-13 to 2014-15, State-wise, are given below:

Sl. No.	State	No. of projects sanctioned (2012-13 to 2014-15)	Amount released (2012-13 to 2014-15) (Rs. in crore)
1.	Arunachal Pradesh	49	97.44
2.	Assam	30	64.51
3.	Manipur	44	163.08
4.	Meghalaya	26	63.93
5.	Mizoram	27	95.06
6.	Nagaland	42	256.58
7.	Sikkim	18	67.08
8.	Tripura	09	19.68
	Total	245	827.36

This was stated by the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh in written reply to a question by Shri B. K. Hariprasad in the Rajya Sabha today.