NEC Meeting
Look East Policy has not befitted NE: Aiyar
New Delhi, Dec 18: Unhappy with the Government's 'Look East' policy, Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said the region has virtually received no dividend from the initiative.
"The North-East has received virtually no benefit from the 'Look East' policy so we requested the Ministry of External Affairs to convene a meeting of the eight chief ministers of the region's states," he said on the conclusion of the two-day 55th North East Regional Council meeting here.
Six out of the eight chief ministers of the north-eastern states turned up in the meeting and a decision was taken that there has to be a full North-East component in the Look East policy.
"We hope this will mean meaningful involvement of the north eastern states in the 'Look East' policy," he added.
He also urged the Central Government for merger of two different funds allocated to the region -- one under the Non-Lapsable Central Fund and the other for the Multiproject fund -- allocated by the Centre to NEC.
Mr Aiyar said the biggest benefit from the clubbing of these two funds would encourage the involvement of the local people in their various economic, social and developmental projects.
Mr Aiyar said each of these funds get around Rs 600 crore. So once the Rs 1200 crore is at the disposal of the nodal Ministry DoNER, it would help them prioritise the projects based on the inputs available from the State concerned.
He said the entire region had got huge potential to becme the ''arrow head'' in the country's economic growth, provided some of the basic issues of the region were resolved at the earliest.
The Union Minister also wanted a thorough revamping of his ministry as well as the seven-decade-old NEC with more money being pumped from the Cetnre.
Mr Aiyar now wants to play the role of an ambassador for the region in Delhi instead of being a part of the Union Government.
He said a major revamp of the DoNER and NEC would enable them to tackle the new role given to his Ministry.
About the NEC, the Minister said that the body has to become a major channel for development of the region. However, he acknowledged that long delay in clearance of projects and disbursement of funds was a problem area.
The Rs 1,200 crore disbursed through his Ministry is miniscule compared to the total budget of Government of India, he said. The Minister also advocated the involvement of the state governments in planning inter and intra projects.
The Minister announced that the ambitious Vision 2020 document would be formally adopted at a special session of the NEC proposed to be held in Shillong.
The document, being described as a 'peoples document' together with a document on poverty eradication would become a 'road map' for development of the region, he said.
Source: The Shillong Times
New Delhi, Dec 18: Unhappy with the Government's 'Look East' policy, Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Mani Shankar Aiyar on Tuesday said the region has virtually received no dividend from the initiative.
"The North-East has received virtually no benefit from the 'Look East' policy so we requested the Ministry of External Affairs to convene a meeting of the eight chief ministers of the region's states," he said on the conclusion of the two-day 55th North East Regional Council meeting here.
Six out of the eight chief ministers of the north-eastern states turned up in the meeting and a decision was taken that there has to be a full North-East component in the Look East policy.
"We hope this will mean meaningful involvement of the north eastern states in the 'Look East' policy," he added.
He also urged the Central Government for merger of two different funds allocated to the region -- one under the Non-Lapsable Central Fund and the other for the Multiproject fund -- allocated by the Centre to NEC.
Mr Aiyar said the biggest benefit from the clubbing of these two funds would encourage the involvement of the local people in their various economic, social and developmental projects.
Mr Aiyar said each of these funds get around Rs 600 crore. So once the Rs 1200 crore is at the disposal of the nodal Ministry DoNER, it would help them prioritise the projects based on the inputs available from the State concerned.
He said the entire region had got huge potential to becme the ''arrow head'' in the country's economic growth, provided some of the basic issues of the region were resolved at the earliest.
The Union Minister also wanted a thorough revamping of his ministry as well as the seven-decade-old NEC with more money being pumped from the Cetnre.
Mr Aiyar now wants to play the role of an ambassador for the region in Delhi instead of being a part of the Union Government.
He said a major revamp of the DoNER and NEC would enable them to tackle the new role given to his Ministry.
About the NEC, the Minister said that the body has to become a major channel for development of the region. However, he acknowledged that long delay in clearance of projects and disbursement of funds was a problem area.
The Rs 1,200 crore disbursed through his Ministry is miniscule compared to the total budget of Government of India, he said. The Minister also advocated the involvement of the state governments in planning inter and intra projects.
The Minister announced that the ambitious Vision 2020 document would be formally adopted at a special session of the NEC proposed to be held in Shillong.
The document, being described as a 'peoples document' together with a document on poverty eradication would become a 'road map' for development of the region, he said.
Source: The Shillong Times