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17:59 IST
MAJOR DECISIONS AND INITIATIVES
DONER
The UPA Government completes one year on May 21, 2005. During this period, the Government has taken several important initiatives. Some of these are being brought out in the series ‘Major Decisions and Initiatives’.
The UPA government stressed its commitment to the goal of rapid development of the North Eastern region of the country by taking two important decisions. It upgraded the Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) to the status of a Ministry of Development of North East Region in order to sharply focus on development issues of the North Eastern Region and took steps to revitalize the North Eastern Council (NEC).
The North Eastern Council (NEC) has been restructured. The Minister in charge of DONER has been nominated as Chairman of NEC and three Members at par with the Members of the Planning Commission have been nominated to the NEC. The Prime Minister has set the tone for the reconstituted NEC while addressing its first Meeting on April 12, 2005. He called upon the Council to focus on the twin issues of development and security and emphasised the need for substantially enhancing income level of rural families by harnessing the vast potential of the region in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, medicinal and aromatic herbs, bamboo, water resources, power resources, minerals, etc.
During the year, the Ministry took a major initiative to seek international cooperation for development of the North-Eastern Region. Under this initiative, 5 core Sectors were identified for preparing Vision Documents in order to facilitate Externally Aided Projects (EAPs). They include Integrated Road Project, Urban Development Project, Trade and Investment Creation Initiative, Water Resource Development and Integrated Energy Project. The Urban Development Project and the Integrated Road Project have already been started with the technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This initiative is likely to result in a large number of EAPs in the North East Region, enhancing the resource-flow to the region substantially. This will also bring institutional reform as well as modern project management technology in various sectors.
Under the scheme of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), 80 new Projects have been sanctioned to the Northeastern States at a cost of Rs.601.21 crore. These projects include significant contribution towards infrastructure projects for holding National Games in Assam during 2005 and also Rs.100 crore for the development of Bodoland Areas. The total outflow from NLCPR to the North-Eastern States during the period has been Rs.650 crore. Under the NEC funding, Rs.500 crore have been provided to the North-Eastern States for integrated development of the region. Thus the total funding by the Ministry for Northeastern Region during the period is Rs.1150 crore.
In the Central Budget of 2005-06, Rs.9306 crore has been earmarked for expenditure in the North-Eastern States as 10 per cent of the gross budgetary support by various Ministries and Departments, representing a substantial increase of 51.7 per cent over 2004-05, when Rs.6133 crore were earmarked.
In order to upgrade the educational facilities in the Northeastern Region, the Government has taken a major decision to establish an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in the North-Eastern Region.
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PIB SF-10 (9.5.05)
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