1Annual Report 2013-14

1.1 The North Eastern Region comprising eightStates of the North East viz. ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya,Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura is aregion of challenges and opportunities,offering extraordinary potential fordevelopment. The subject of development andgrowth of the NER is an extremely importantone and has engaged the Central Government.The special requirements of the NER and theneed for significant levels of investment arenow well recognized. The various policyinitiatives undertaken by the CentralGovernment have been strengthened over timeto fast track the economic growth of the NER.

1. OVERVIEW

1.2 Role and functions of Ministry of DoNER

The Department of Development of NorthEastern Region was created in 2001 andsubsequently elevated to the level of a full-fledged Ministry in 2004, to synergize theprocess of development of the region so thatit enjoys growth parity with the rest of thecountry. While this Ministry is addressing therequirements of state specific infrastructureprojects through its scheme of Non-LapsableCentral Pool of Resources (NLCPR) as a directfacilitator for infrastructure development, itis also monitoring the progress ofimplementation of projects / schemes in the

2 Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

infrastructure sectors of power, irrigation,roads and communications taken up byCentral Line Ministries / Departments. Anumber of key infrastructure projects ofregional character are supported by NorthEastern Council (NEC). By acting as aninterface between the NE States and theCentral Government, the Ministry of DoNERendeavours to provide necessary impetus tothe development of the region.

1.3 To fulfil its role the Ministry of DoNERundertakes the following functions andactivities:

i. Matters relating to planning, execution andmonitoring development schemes/ projects ofthe North-East Region including projects inroads, power, irrigation and communicationsectors.

ii. Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources(NLCPR).

iii. Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources(NLCPR) Scheme (State and Central).

iv. All matters relating to the North EasternCouncil (NEC).

v. Providing support and guidance to (a) NorthEastern Development Finance Corporation(NEDFi) (b) North Eastern RegionalAgricultural Marketing Corporation(NERAMAC) and (c) North EasternHandlooms & Handicrafts DevelopmentCorporation (NEHHDC).

vi. Building capacities and competencies incritical areas.

vii. Showcasing strength and potential of theregion.

1.4 Ministry of DoNER comprises four Wings i.e.NLCPR, NEC, Administration and IntegratedFinance including Economic Advisor and itsorganizations. NEC is a statutory advisorybody with functions to plan, finance andexecute schemes of regional importance.NEHHDC and NERAMAC are CPSEs underthe administrative control of Ministry ofDoNER. NEDFi is a deemed government Ltd.Company. Ministry functions through itsaforesaid four wings and organizations. MainSecretariat of the Ministry is headed bySecretary assisted by three Joint Secretaries,Economic Adviser, Financial Adviser andPrincipal-cum-Pay & Accounts Officer. Thereare 12 posts of Director/Dy. Secretary, oneSuperintending Engineer, One Senior PPS,seven Under Secretaries, one Dy. Director(OL), one Executive Engineer, four PPSs, oneAsst. Director (OL), nine Section Officers,two Assistant Engineers, eight PSs, two SeniorStatistical Officers and seventy four nongazetted posts apart from fourteen gazette andnon-gazetted posts in the Minister’s office andfifteen posts (gazetted & non gazette) inPrincipal-cum-Pay & Accounts Office.

1.5 Large Plan investments and focus oninfrastructure development has helped growthin this region. There has been substantialimprovement in the growth rate in the NEStates particularly in the 11th Plan.

1.6 However, as stated in the 12th Five year Plandocument the NER needs “……Continuedemphasis on development of physical andsocial infrastructure for it, to become strong,confident and capable of engaging withexternal market”. During the year underreview, Ministry of DoNER, recognising thatinfrastructure development is an essential pre-requisite for realizing the Vision, to acceleratepace of socio-economic development of North

3Annual Report 2013-14

East Region, continued to address the statespecific infrastructure gaps of the regionthrough intense engaging with infrastructureCentral Line Ministries; expansion andstrengthening its own NLCPR Scheme andalso through projects of North EasternCouncil.

1.7 Recent reviews by concerned line Ministriesreveal that there has been progress towardscompletion of some of the ongoinginfrastructure projects in railways, roads,airways, power and telecom sector etc.However, there is need to hasten the paceof implementation / completion of theongoing projects. General concern in theregion has been that many of the projectsare under implementation for a long time.The issues slowing down the completion ofprojects relate to land acquisition; Right ofWay (ROW), environment and forestclearances, pending court cases, positioningof adequate staff at the ground level / projectsite etc. These need to be pursued relentlesslyby State Governments and Central Ministries.

1.8 Provision of additional financial resourcesduring 2013-14 have stepped up the pace ofwork and would help towards earlycompletion of some of the railway projects.The Rangiya – Rangapara Gauge conversionhas been completed and operationalized.Railways is likely to complete the followingGauge conversion and new lines duringcurrent calendar year 2014: Rangapara –North Lakhimpur Gauge conversion; Harmuti- Naharlagun (New Line) ; Dudhno –Mendipathar (New Line).

1.9 Road Connectivity

The critical roads identified for interventionand speedy completion during the 12th Plan

period are (i) the East - West Corridor (670Km in Assam) by NHAI. (ii) All stretches ofSARDP-NE connecting State Capitals/ DistrictHeadquarters (including NH-31 A in Sikkim,NH-39 and NH-53 in Manipur, NH – 44 inTripura) (iii) Strategic Border roads (iv) TransArunachal Highway (added subsequently inSARDP - NE) (v) Important road bridges overBrahmaputra river and all other crucialbridges on major road projects (vi) roadsconnecting Kaladan Multi-model TransitTransport Project.

The works on most of the highways and someof the road bridges mentioned above has beenslow with slippages in targets in terms oftime limit and work completed. The East WestCorridor (NHAI) is likely to be completed byDecember, 2014. The critical issues holdingup construction of highways is land availabilityand clearance for extraction of minerals usedin building of roads. Reviews regardingprogress of road projects in the NER heldduring 2013-14 have recommendedstrengthening of road execution capabilitieson the ground.

1.10 Improvement of air connectivity to NERspecifically within the region is a priority area.Flight services to the region and within theregion have to be made more regular andassured. Towards this end, the developmentof Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala as regionalhubs has to be hastened. In this connectionthe construction of 3 hangers at GuwahatiAirport will be completed by September 2014.The Apron extension is going on at ImphalAirport (which has been notified as aninternational airport on 14th, November,2013). Construction of new terminal buildingin Agartala has to be initiated. Pakyong aGreenfield airport near Gangtok is likely tobe completed by December, 2014. There is

4 Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

also need to sort out the land acquisition andother pending issues for operationalizing thenon-operational airports in Arunachal Pradeshand Meghalaya.

1.11 The power sector in NER has huge untappedpotential. While the aggregate technical andcommercial (AT&C) losses are slowly comingdown, the problem of slow evacuation ofpower continues (due to lack of readiness oftransmission / sub-transmission lines and sub-stations). Environment and Forest clearances,delays in of land acquisition; poor approachroads are stalling some of the hydro powerprojects of Arunachal Pradesh. Under theNLCPR Central Scheme of Ministry ofDoNER, the Intra-State Transmission Linenetwork for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim isbeing taken up. The first Unit of the 726MW Palatana gas based project (Tripura) wascommissioned in December, 2013. However,the Transmission Network for evacuating thispower is facing problems because of delayin land acquisition by Meghalaya StateElectricity Board.

1.12 The NER lags behind rest of the country intelecom connectivity. Apart from low tele-density due to hilly terrain / sparse populationdensity there are problems of ensuring opticalfibre connectivity. The utilization of USOfunds has not been commensurate withrequirements of telecom connectivity acrossNER. There is need to develop acomprehensive North East Telecom Planwhich will examine and recommend use ofappropriate technologies for increased teleconnectivity across the NER. Such a planshould ensure level playing field to all telecomoperators in the region and increase theefficiency of government funding keeping inview the ongoing USO funded schemesparticularly the National Optic Fiber Network.

All service providers need to adopt “farthestfirst” principle and give utmost priority toNER in completing the projects. Ensuringadequate broadband bandwidth to all partsof NER; improved connectivity throughalternate telecom route (international gatewayat Cox Bazar, Bangladesh); installation oftowers including VSAT connectivity to providemobile telephony to cover every village inthe region especially in strategic border areas;deployment of microwave technology on alarge scale by subsidizing royalty charges formicrowave services and transponderbandwidth charges; and ensuring optimal useof modern low power consumingtechnologies for use by the towers - are someof the priority areas for NER.

1.13 The 891 Km inland waterways on NationalWaterways - 2 on river Brahmaputra providessafe, cheap and eco-friendly route for carriageof commodities. The IWAI’s efforts are toensure navigability of 2.0 to 2.5 meter depth.However, this is difficult as the Brahmaputrabeing a typical alluvial river has huge sedimentload, bank erosion and multiple channels.The inland waterways on NW-2 route shouldbe made fully functional with adequateapproach roads, terminals, jetties and dredgingactivities.

1.14 Apart from infrastructure sectors, NER requiressignificant interventions in development ofAgriculture and Allied sectors (includingHorticulture, Animal Husbandry, poultry,piggery, fisheries), Education and Healthsectors. There is need to improve productivityof crops (including horticulture and plantationcrops). Agriculture is the main stay of theeconomy of the North East States.Interventions for increasing farm productivitythrough greater synergy between schemes ofCentral Ministries and those of North East

5Annual Report 2013-14

States; increased provision for irrigation andagriculture inputs, agriculture extension; betterpost harvest management and processing forvalue addition; marketing infrastructure needsto be up scaled for increasing employmentand income of the people of the region.

1.15 While the special provision under theNational Rural Health Mission has yieldedmany positive health outcomes across NER,the health coverage remains far fromsatisfactory in the region as seen from wideinequities and deficiencies in access to qualityhealth care. The hilly terrain and sparsepopulation density, riverine islands, frequentflooding makes access more difficult. Theinterventions would need greater flexibilityin funding to ensure: primary healthcarecoverage at sub centre and PHCs; forwardlinkages to NRHM for creation andupgradation of secondary and tertiaryhealthcare; augmenting trained healthmanpower at all levels through setting upmedical colleges, nursing training institutesfor general nurses and ANMs and institutesfor training of paramedics; incentivizingmedical professionals of Central and StateGovernments to serve in the region etc. Thespecific health needs of NE States such asmalaria, HIV / AIDS de-addiction and mentalhealth needs to be addressed in a focused upscaled manner.

1.16 While the literacy levels in the North EastStates are high, there is need to focus onquality of education imparted to reduce drop-out rates both at the primary and elementarystages in these States. Investment in teacherstraining, pedagogic process, learningoutcomes and evaluation is necessary. Accessto higher education in the NE States continuesto be low. As against 44 colleges earmarkedfor the NER under the new Model Degree

Colleges Schemes that envisages setting upof a college in every district that has a grossenrolment ratio below the national average,only 18 colleges have so far been set up. Aserious problem is the low levels of enrolmentin science and engineering and the inadequatenumber of colleges offering science education.Promotion of science and engineering isnecessary to strengthen the production basein the region – agricultural, environmentaland manufacturing. The apex institutions setup by MHRD in the NER namely CentralUniversities, an IIT, an IIM, NITs etc. are notin a position to cater to the needs of thestudents in terms of infrastructure, hostels,and other facilities.

1.17 During the year 2013-14, 53 non-exemptedCentral Ministries/ Departments, undermandatory 10 percent earmarked GBS,allocated Rs. 25078.50 crore for the region.The annual accrual to Non Lapsable CentralPool of Resources (NLCPR) on 31st March,2013 (for the previous year 2012-13) wasRs. 1968.71 crore.

1.18 Given complexity of task, augmentinginvestment to accelerate growth in the regionis very crucial. Successful transformation ofinvestments into development outcomesrequires a variety of initiatives in every sectorof the economy: primary, secondary andtertiary. North Eastern Council has takeninitiatives in agriculture including horticulturesector through its projects of supportingtraining institutions in the field of bio-technology, horticulture and commercial cropcultivation. NEC has also been supportingduck breeding, breeder seed potato farms,and cold storage units in NE States. The NorthEastern Regional Agricultural MarketingCorporation Limited (NERAMAC), a PublicSector Enterprise of this Ministry, is providing

6 Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region

support through marketing, value addition andcapacity building.

1.19 In the secondary sectors of Industries andTourism, NEC, during the year under reviewcontinued to support its institutions set upearlier such as Regional Handloom andHandicraft marketing complex at Guwahati,Emporia complex in Manipur; enhancingcapacity of tea processing factory at Tebaria,West Tripura; bamboo technology park at,Burnihaat and infrastructure development ofexisting industrial estate at Tura. In the services/ tertiary sector NEC supported projects inhotel management, hospitality, tourism, skilldevelopment and capacity building.

1.20 North East Development Finance Corporation(NEDFi), has been engaged in business ofproviding credit and other facilities forpromotion, expansion and modernization ofindustrial enterprises, infrastructure projects,agro-horticulture plantation, medicinalplantation, sericulture plantation, aquaculture,poultry, dairy and animal husbandrydevelopment in North East States. It has beenconsistently performing well in projectfinancing as well as in micro-financing.North Eastern Region has rich tradition ofcrafts. In this regard, North Eastern Handloom& Handicrafts Development Corporation(NEHHDC), another Public Sector Enterpriseunder this Ministry, is providing criticalsupport to vast number of artisans of theRegion. Established in the year 1977 withthe mandate of promotion and developmentof Handicrafts and Handlooms sectors in theNorth Eastern Region, the Corporation playsa key role in the development and promotionof the Handicrafts and Handlooms sectors ofthe North Eastern Region by way of providingtraining to the artisans and weavers throughconduct of awareness Seminars and

Workshops, marketing support throughprocurement of Handicrafts and Handloomsproducts directly from the artisans, weavers,self help groups and enables the artisans andweavers to sell their products directly throughthe North East Trade Expos, Crafts Bazaarsetc.

1.21 Economic development and consequent freshopportunities for education and employmenthas been transforming the lives of the people.However, there is a pressing need to improvequality of implementation and service deliverymechanism. Constraints to implementation,which cause time and cost over- runs arebeing identified and tried to be overcomethrough stream lining of procedures.Moreover, capacity building and skill levelsof officers from North East State Governmentsare to be improved. The Ministry of DoNERthrough its scheme Capacity Building andTechnical Assistance (CB&TA) is makingefforts in this direction. The scheme has acomponent to train non IAS/ IPS, middle /senior level officers in State Governments /organisations to equip them in becomingeffective public office functionaries.

The above scheme is primarily meant tointroduce build capacities of youth of theregion for employability. Development ofhuman resources is critical to developmentof the region. While literacy rate in the regionis high, employability of youth in the regionin skill-intensive activities and withinmanufacturing and service sectors is not veryencouraging. The structural transformation ofthe economy can only take place by creatingand enhancing multi-dimensional capacitiesthat are linked to human resourcerequirements for expanding primary,manufacturing and service sectors. While theMinistry and NEC have taken a number of

7Annual Report 2013-14

measures towards capacity building and up-gradation of skills, concerned Line Ministriesimplementing schemes in the North East Statesand Chambers of Commerce and Industryhave to play a big role in complementing theinitiatives.

1.22 The development initiatives by governmentare required to be sustained through privatesector participation. Besides meeting the needfor additional resources for development, itcreates environment for providing jobopportunities, better utilization of resources,enhanced credit flow in the Region andconsequent development. Ministry of DoNERunder its scheme Advocacy & Publicity isproviding necessary platform for private sectorto interact in the Region through Businesssummits as well as one-to-one interaction withspecific countries thereby paving way forfuture investments. Ninth North East BusinessSummit was organized during 22-24

November, 2013 for attracting investmentsin NER. Also, for encouraging events havingbearing on socio-economic and socio-culturallife of people in NER, this Ministry hassponsored events viz Expos, seminars,workshops, etc. organized by governmentas well as non-government agencies at variousplaces.

1.23 Concerted efforts of Central and StateGovernments are helping in providing a thrustto the process of socio-economic developmentof the region. With properly defined targets,clear outcomes, strategies and coordinatedplanning for region as a whole, North EasternRegion can be revitalized to becomeincreasingly self-sufficient. The Ministry ofDoNER expects to play an important and pro-active role to ensure both speedyimplementation of programmes and projectsfor a planned development of the Region.

8 Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region