North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) is not just a political grouping but a platform that culturally unites all the eight North-East states and increases their involvement in national affairs
Subimal Bhattacharjee
The second conclave of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), the coalition of the BJP and five regional parties of the North-East region was held in Delhi on September 5, 2017. The conclave was presided over by Amit Shah, National President of BJP who touched upon the development of the region and also emphasised on the need for the emotional integration of the region with the rest of the country.
NEDA currently holds power in 5 of the 8 North-East states and the remaining three go to polls within the next one year and so the strategy of winning over these three states was covered in the conclave. However, the focus on larger issues of the region with the message of Shah on both the development and emotional integration needs special mention as the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre has been giving special emphasis on both these counts. In 3 years that this government has ruled this country, many visible changes have been witnessed in the region and it will be prudent for NEDA to build on this goodwill. The fact that Union Ministers are available almost every fortnight. Even the efforts of BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav to be regularly available in the region and guide the State and party leadership on having a more holistic approach to governance matters are significant. Never have the leaders of the region been consulted and involved on all matters related to their interests even in aspects of foreign policy relevant to the region.
Developmental Agenda
This situation on the ground sets the benchmark for NEDA to perform. Focus on infrastructure development, elimination of corruption, regional trade and service industry development will be crucial for the next decade to overcome the misses of the past few decades. Today the North-East states contribute just 3 per cent to the country’s GDP despite huge potential on many fronts. Most of the funds available in the region for development are Central grants and over the years the utilisation has been abysmally poor and non accountable. Now that a think tank has been considered to guide NEDA, it will be prudent for this think tank to research and explore an optimal growth path for the region. A proper assessment of potentialities has to be explored for the region as such and accordingly resources allocated. That way projects will be relevant, spread over and allow a complementary ecosystem for trade and commerce to prosper.
It will be pertinent to mention that the Modi Government has improved the fund flow for ongoing infrastructure projects in the region and maximum allocation has been made to complete hanging projects. Thus the Lumding Silchar broad gauge conversion project and the Dhola sadiya bridge projects got completed. Fund flow for infrastructure projects increased this from 61 per cent in 2014-15 to 74 per cent in 2015-16 and then to 92 per cent in 2016-17 for the nonlapsable central pool of resources (NLCPR) schemes. In the last 2 years more than 500 kms of rail tracks were laid in the region. A strict drive was ensured for accountability for the central allocations and the submission of Utilisation Certificates has improved. From a figure of Rs 1654.86 crore in May 14, it was brought down to Rs 159.82 crore in March 17. Such measures improved the fund utilisation and timely availability and also checked overshooting estimates and corruption. Also the decision to use geo spatial, remote sensing and GIS technologies for decision support system for planning of projects and their implementation and maintenance will bring in greater transparency and better monitoring of projects.
Service Industry
Even focus on service industry is crucial as it has much wider prospects in the region. Tourism will be one of the biggest game changers. Wildlife, religious and ethnic culture based tourism has both domestic and global prospects. The setting up of the North East Tourism Development Council on a public private partnership is a good step and it must be focused to devise regional tourist circuits and market them in the country and also in neighbouring markets. Strategic focus on the indigenous and ethnic handicraft industry could be a major avenue to expand and allow the micro, small and medium enterprises to take advantage of the growing reach of e-commerce economy. Already floriculture, horticulture and organic farming are being pursued and the communities and entrepreneurs need to be further incentivised and supported so that they gain newer markets. A good step undertaken is the North-East Venture Fund offered by DONER which is attracting young startups from the region.
Needless to say the prospects are tremendous and NEDA can draw up a quality agenda and priority areas to move forward with the help of the proposed think tank. With direct borders with four nations, the prospects of tourism are immense and can lead to a wider service industry ecosystem provided quality infrastructure is built and sustained in the region. The Act East policy offers so much wider and sub regional engagements that the region can participate in and already the India-ASEAN dialogue, BIMSTEC and BBIN are seeing the focus on north east India from the Modi Government. Clearly NEDA has a great mission ahead and can show how a visionary approach will develop at the core of politics in the North-East region.
