10th Jul 2018 09:07:PM Editorials
Eastern Sentinel Arunachal News

The just concluded 67th plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in the backdrop of the Union Government bringing the NEC under the Home Ministry in June last and making the Home Minister its chairman and the DoNER minister vice chairman. The idea behind this was to create a forum for discussing inter-state matters more comprehensively. 
The NEC was created way back in 1971 with a view to complement and supplement the developmental efforts of the states. While it is debatable about the achievements touted by the NEC in  its over 45 years of existence, certain of its contributions cannot be discounted, especially in the field of road network. Many of the old roads constructed in the last few decades in different states of the region bear the hallmark of the NEC, that too with its limited allocation of funds.
No doubt it also had contributed to institution building, transport and communication, power generation and transmission and creation of different kinds of infrastructural facilities with a view to positioning the states to launch themselves into a self-sustaining growth trajectory. However, a lot remains to be done since the gap between the NE States and other States of the country keeps on getting widened. 
 
Moreover, the states, most of them created after the States Reorganisation Act of 1971, continue to be in the backwaters of economic development and still need a great deal of concerted efforts to bring them at par with the more developed states of the country. 
The creation of DoNER ministry in 2001 with a higher outlay than that of NEC had raised some question marks then about the future of NEC. It had almost remained on the backbenches ever since with developmental focus being on the DoNER ministry.
With scarce resources at its disposal and increasing demands of the states, NEC was a Hobson’s choice of where to spend and what to spend. With the NEC now brought under the Home Ministry, the states of the region will be looking up to the NEC for more developmental funds as demanded by Arunachal Chief Minister Pema Khandu at the plenary session, the Government of India needs to enhance the annual outlay for the NEC. Then only it can satisfy the insatiable needs of the states.
 
 


Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List