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- 1. TOPIC-SUNRISE STATES: REALISING THE GROWTH OF NORTH-EAST STATES TEAM DETAILS- 1-Priyanka Bhatt (8939136344)[email protected] 2-Anshumann mahopatra (8695787469)[email protected] 3-Sandeep Singh (8826724947)[email protected] 4-Rohan gupta (9910782389)[email protected] 5-Vipin kumar (9711685677)[email protected] The region comprises eight states-Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Assam. Occupying 8% of India’s geographical spread, the states are home to only 4% of the country’s population, while Assam accounts for 68% of the population. The region stands way below in comparison with the rest of India in socio- economic indicators. As per the 2001 census, the annual per capita income of NER is 6,625 INR against the rest of India average of 10,254 INR. Nearly 34.28% of the population is below poverty line as compared to the national average of 26.1%. However, the NER is a highly literate region. Except for Arunachal Pradesh, all the other states have literacy rates about or above national average of 64.8% which provides a good pool of educated human resources in the region. All the eight states have different developmental prospects and resources to support their efforts in contributing to the regional as well as national economy. A critical appraisal of the key economic indicators along with a detailed sketch of the individual strengths of the seven states is necessary to achieve a holistic framework to target growth in the region. PROBLEMS PREVAILING IN NORTH-EAST STATES Infrastructure In field of border trade Water and forest resources management Military act in the North-East states Skill development Terriost activities People belief that government is not trustworthy INFRASTRUCTURE Road is an important mode of travel in the hilly areas as other mode of travel is either too expensive or difficult. The road infrastructure is relatively deficient in the NER although the region’s road density per capita is significantly higher as compared to the rest of the country. Given the low density of population and the hilly terrain of the region this is an expected outcome. The road length per unit area is higher only in Nagaland, Assam, and Tripura States Road density per 1000 sq metre Road density per 1000 population Arunachal 196.96 13.77 Assam 2936.51 7.83 Manipur 739.11 6.98 Meghalaya 438.67 3.89 Mizoram 292.11 6.35 Nagaland 1345.32 10.27
- 2. Sikkim 263.95 3.17 Tripura 3026.23 9.09 India 965.73 2.77 Solutions Inland water transport can be a viable, cost-effective alternative in the plain areas of NER given the high cost of expanding other mode of transportation. There is a need to improve facilities for night navigation and mechanical handling. Cargo vessels and terminals should be increased to meet the rising demands. Emphasis should be on PPPs for the development of fairways and infrastructure in IWT. Signing contracts with various builders to develop the level of infrastructure. WATER AND FOREST RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The North eastern Region has abundant water resources. One-third of India’s runoff flows from the Northeast through the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers. These rivers constitute India’s National Waterway 2(NW-2) and their basins contain seasonally flooded wetlands that sustain a broad range of biodiversity .There is an estimated 60,000 megawatts of economically viable hydropower potential, of which only about 2004 megawatts is developed or under construction. It is also clear that the abundant surface water resource imposes severe distress and costs on the region through frequent flooding and erosive processes and that this needs to be managed to improve economic development. The region’s lowland and montane moist to wet tropical evergreen forests are considered to be the northernmost limit of true tropical rain forests in the world. Northeast India probably supports the highest bird diversity in the East, with about 836 of the1, 200 bird species known from the Indian subcontinent .The richness of the region’s avifauna largely reflects the diversity of habitats associated with a wide altitudinal range. Assam hosts the entire known world population of the pygmy hog, 75 percent of the world population of the Indian rhinoceros and wild water buffalo, and a sizable population of Asian elephant sand tiger. Despite the region’s recognition as a biodiversity hotspot, biodiversity information is generally restricted to species inventories for specific locations, mainly the protected areas. Important data such as distributional patterns and population dynamics are unavailable, except for very few species. All of these are vital for determining management strategies for the biodiversity SOLUTIONS Rubber and bamboo are among the important agricultural products which can attract a lot of investment opportunities More number of dams should be made so as to eliminate electricity problem and problem because of flood can be reduce by setting up of dams. Industries utilising the medicinal properties should be set up. More number of natural reserves should be set up so as to protect the biodiversity and can be used for recreational purposes and can attract tourists. The cultivation of horticulture products especially of sub-tropical fruits on a large scale with assistance from the government .large amount of spices such as chillies, gingers, mustard seeds, fruits and vegetables which can be processed and marketed locally There is a huge demand of dried fish, and this can be used as an idea setting up new industries. BORDER TRADE With the emergence of globalisation, economic integration among nations has become a necessity. Cross-border trade is the most important medium of the current wave of globalisation. In this process, knowingly or unknowingly the north east economy has emerged in to a new dimension of cross-border trade (informal trade) with neighbouring nations and that increases social welfare of the poor masses of the region. Under the “Look East” policy, India seeks economic cooperation
- 3. with ASEAN and other neighbouring countries through the gateway of the region. The North East is located at a crossroads between three major economies – East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. This geopolitical advantage, has however, not really translated into the region’s economic development. Despite the high growth in India’s trade ties with Southeast Asia and China in the recent past, the Northeast’s role has been marginal in terms of its contribution to trade and as a trade route. The Northeast has not been able to integrate and benefit from the various regional and sub-regional initiatives that neighbouring countries have created SOLUTIONS With better connectivity and implementation of various development projects, the Asian Highway will enable the region to become a business hub of South Asia. Providing better working conditions for the companies trading with north-east so as to boost up the trading. Signing treaties with various south-asian companies to set up companies in north-east. For this connectivity through water and air should also promoted and for this investment should be done to improve transport through water and air. SKILL DEVELOPMENT The literacy rate in north-east is high as compared to many other states, still they don’t get enough employment opportunities because of lack of skill instead of having the knowledge. SOLUTION Institutions of higher education focussing on environment sciences (viz. forest sciences, social forestry, botany, environment and ecology sciences, etc.) Given the huge reservoirs of oil and gas hydrocarbons, there is an opportunity to train the local population in trades relating to exploration and production of oil and gas. Identifying institutes and organisations for imparting training and building capacities in the region. Using IT as a tool to upgrade skills Augmenting the capacity of the existing training institutes in the north eastern states . TERROIST ACTIVITIES A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government and thereby effect political, religious, or ideological change. Various groups are involved in the Insurgency in Northeast India, India's north east states, which are connected to the rest of India by a narrow strip of land known as the Siliguri Corridor. In the region several armed factions operate. Some groups call for a separate state, others for regional autonomy while some extreme groups demand complete independence. A feeling of second-class citizenship meted out to them by the rest of India has led the natives of these states to seek greater participation in self-governance. There are existing territorial disputes between Manipur and Nagaland, Nagaland and Assam, Meghalaya and Assam, and Mizoram and Assam, often based on historical border disputes and differing ethnic, tribal or cultural affinities. There has been a number of insurgent activities and regional movements in all parts of the northeast, often unique in character to each state. Military action by the armed and paramilitary forces and political action have led to the intensity of these insurgencies fluctuating and to the resolution of the insurgency in Mizoram. SOLUTIONS The demands of north-east people should be raised and take into consideration by central government. People should be make assured that the government is with them, for their benefits
- 4. Various measures should take by government for the development of the states Most of the terrorist group basically demand different states because of insufficient development.If development rate are increased then this problem can be solved. Measures should be taken to make government trustworthy among the people. IMPOSITION OF MILITARY ACT The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA), was passed on September 11, 1958, by the Parliament of India. It is a law with just six sections granting special powers to the armed forces in what the act terms as "disturbed areas" .The Act has been at the heart of concerns about human rights violations in the regions of its enforcement, where arbitrary killings, torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and enforced disappearances have happened. The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act, 1958 empowered only the Governors of the States and the Administrators of the Union Territories to declare areas in the concerned State of Union Territory as 'disturbed'. By Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers (Amendment) Act, 1972, such a power was conferred concurrently upon the Central government .The reason for conferring such a power as per "Objects and Reasons'" appended to the Bill was that , "Keeping in view the duty of the Union under Article 355 of the Constitution,inter alia, to protect every State against internal disturbance, it is considered desirable that the Central government should also have power to declare areas as 'disturbed', to enable its armed forces to exercise the special powers". The territorial scope of Act also expanded to the five states of the North-East, - Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and to the Union Territories Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram. In addition , the words , "The Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Act, 1958" were substituted by "Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958", getting the acronym of AFSPA, 1958 .Though this act assures safety of people but this deprives people from their freedom and sometimes gives unfair advantage to armed forces. SOLUTIONS More military should be placed in the areas so as to stop terrorist activities but the power given to them should not allow them to do the thing according to their will, as many cases of brutal killing of innocent, rape cases has been recorded. CONCLUSION Institutional change supporting economic enhancement and growth at a social level requires economic incentives, supported by political will. With India moving into a new era of economic liberation, the region should not be left out. The framework for development of the region can be broadly based upon four vital components. The first component of this development plan should be social empowerment. It needs to empower rural communities, create sustainable institutions so that they manage common activities around microfinance, livelihoods and natural resource management. The second component needs to be economic empowerment. The objective of this component should ideally be to develop the capacity of rural communities to plan and manage funds for various economic initiatives and common activities for the public. The third component will be partnership development. The objective of this component should be to partner with various service providers, resource institutions and public and private sector organisations to bring resources such as finance, technology, and marketing into the project so that the community groups are able to improve their livelihoods. The fourth and final component will be project management. This will facilitate various governance, implementation, co- ordination, learning and quality enhancement efforts in the project.