Sunrise States: Realizing the growth potential of

North-East

Team Details

Team Coordinator-Sandeep Walia

Team members- Ayushee Agarwal, Niranjan Singh, Sahil Dhingra

and Shambhavi Shah

Nurturing The Hidden Potential Of The

North Eastern Region

The Northeast region of India comprising of eight states:

o Assam

o Nagaland

o Manipur

o Arunachal Pradesh

o Mizoram

o Tripura

o Meghalaya

o Sikkim

It is surrounded by many countries such as Bhutan, Myanmar, Bangladesh and

China, is the setting for a multitude of conflict that undermines the idea of India as

a prosperous and functioning democracy.

In the past this region has faced numerous problems such as:

The Naga insurgency still remains one of the oldest unresolved conflict

in the World.

This region is also very poorly connected by road to other parts of the

country which makes the supply of goods very difficult and this also leads

to the inflation of various basic amenities such as petrol, cooking gas and

various edible products.

The northeast is the hotbed of militancy due to its porous borders with

Bangladesh and Bhutan.

The main reason of these tensions is that the tribes in north-east are largely of

Tibeto-Burman/Mongoloid stock and closer to Southeast Asia and South Asia. It is

ethnically, linguistically and culturally very distinct from other states of India.

Northeast is territorially organized in such a manner that ethnic and cultural

specifications were ignored during process of delineation of state boundaries in the

1950.

Child labor and malnutrition have haunted north east since several years

For years the northeast part of our country has been ignored by the central

government. It has been neglected both economic and social development.

It is geographically a very vulnerable zone as 98% of its borders are

international, but this also gives it an opportunity of foreign trade.

The verdant mountains of the North East conceal not only the odd militant,

but also a rich culture of art and handicrafts passed on from generation to

generation.

The resource rich with its expanses of fertile farmland and huge talent pool

could turn into India’s most prosperous region.

It is of paramount importance that the region, as a collective identity, embarks a

vibrant journey to realize dreams of a better future. The development in northeast

would also raise India to higher levels of inclusive economic development

The beautiful city of Gangtok

A Brief about the solution proposed:

1. Creation Of SEZ’s

A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a geographical region that is designed

to export goods and provide employment. SEZs are exempt from federal

laws regarding taxes, quotas, FDI-bans, labor laws and other restrictive laws

in order to make the goods manufactured in the SEZ at a globally

competitive price. Unfortunately there are no currently functioning SEZs in

the northeastern region. SEZs will allow various foreign and Indian

industries to set up in this region and automatically solve the problem of

unemployment and increase the living standard of the people.

2. Realization of it’s Power Potential

The region is endowed with perennial river and water bodies, therefore it has

a huge hydroelectricity potential. States such as Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim

and Meghalaya have huge potential in hydropower generation.

3. Development of physical Infrastructure

Road is an important mode of travel in hilly areas as other mode of travel is

either too expensive or difficult. The road infrastructure is relatively

deficient in north eastern region. The road length per unit area is higher only

in Nagaland, Assam and Tripura.

4. Promotion of Cross Border Trade

Cross border trade is most important medium of current wave of

globalization. The North East is located between three major economies-

East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia. This North East has not been able

to integrate and benefit from this advantage. Out of India’s export volume of

about $254.4 billion, the Northeast’s share is only $0.01 billion.

5. Skill Development

According to study on development and employment generation potential of

north eastern states, between 2011 and 2021, will have only 2.6 million jobs,

whereas there will be 14 million job seekers. For this government should

setup various institutions to enhance the skill of the people.

6. To develop a world class Tourist Destination

North east region is stated as ‘Paradise Unexplored’ .This picturesque

region is full of forested hills and lush green fields but receives little tourism

compared to rest of India. The state government has to aggressively promote

tourism as it will not only generate jobs but also make northeast famous in

the entire world.

Steps for implementation of the proposed

plan

1. There are just 2 SEZs in Nagaland as declared by Government of India but

none of them has started functioning. The government instead of just

declaring should take some concrete steps to promote the establishment of

more industries in this region. Because of it’s agricultural capabilities this

region has a potential of becoming a hub of food processing industries. Also

since this region is largest supplier of tea, the government should promote

use of modern agriculture techniques to increase production of it.

2. The government should keep the power projects as public-private

partnership. It should also keep in mind that these projects should not

displace large population of people as it results to widespread anger among

people and also leads to negative publicity of the government.

3. The proper connection of north eastern region will help promote local trade.

The various government departments such as NHAI and PWD should

provide their expertise to local government to develop high speed freeways

and highways. This will also help our defense forces in supply of goods,

men and other amenities quickly which will strengthen India’s position

against its vulnerable Chinese border.

4. As mentioned earlier the 98% of northeastern border is international. The

government should help the state government to establish one of a kind

North East Cross Border Trade Centre which will both promote cross-

border trade and also be a watchdog to keep a check on trading.

5. The government should establish more technical institution like IITs and

NITs which will help make more and more people professionals in field of

IT and communication, since the presence of this sector is nil in this area.

Since forest and agriculture are such a major part in these areas state of the

art Forest Institutions should be established in this region. These

institutions will also teach people to preserve the degrading forests.

6. Adventure based tourism like Trekking, Mountaineering, Skiing will also

make North east a famous international tourist destination. Government

should invest and promote in building up more hotels, guest houses and

other tourist facilities to promote tourism. It is also responsibility of people

to be more accepting to outside world, for years these areas have been

untouched by even other people of India. The local police should also be

trained in english to help and manage tourist’s problems.

In spite of large number of snow covered mountains there are very less adventure sports

in the North Eastern Region.

Economic Impact

The per capita income of Indian states is stated below:

The above statistics indicate that the per capita of most of northeastern states is

lower than the all India average. If above steps are followed it will help in

increasing above statistics, this will directly lead to increase livelihood of local

people.

The North Eastern states are ‘undiscovered gold mine of opportunities’ that we

are yet to cultivate. It is of great economic and strategic importance to our country.

Social Impact

If the government is able to develop our North Eastern region it will make it a

cultural hub where people from all across the country visit and even work. It will

also allow the local people to be open to all kinds of opportunities.

It will also help people of other states to understand and respect the people and

culture of North Eastern region. It will be a step further towards nationalization of

our country.

Challenges Faced

The government should take special steps to make sure the process of

implementation of above given steps is corruption free. As we are that

recently many protests are going on to make sure that corruption is vanished

from our country.

It is a responsibility of both people and government to keep a check on

corruption. Anti corruption institutions such as CVC and CBI should make

sure that this region is corruption free. The RTIs applied from this region are

also very low as compared to other areas. Thus citizen should also realize

the power of this tool.

The local people should be more accepting to the local world and understand

that violent insurgencies would be only harming the image of their state.

If they wish to protest it should be peaceful. They should make whole India

realize their current condition so that they have the support of whole country

in their development.

With the current Indo China relation the government should realize the

strategic importance of north east states as major part of this region shares

its border with it. It can also help to ease the current tense situation by

allowing more cross border trade with it.

Conclusion

Thus with the implementation of solutions as proposed, a process can be set in

motion that could support the north east in its endeavor to contribute to economic

resurgence of home region as well as to development of rest of the country

The implementation of the above steps will have an immediate impact on poverty

reduction at community level. The North East which has been virtually cut-off

from our country should become a Cross Border Trade hub where people from all

parts of the country come in search of opportunity and better lives. It will create a

distinct identity of this region.

The gift of nature which has been undiscovered for so many years should be open

to the whole world, its mesmerizing beauty and serene mountains can make it a

world class hill station.

For years tea has been major export item from north east and it is time that it should also enter

alternate export markets.

Appendix:

References:

Conflict in northeast India: Issues, causes and concerns

By Philipp Heimerdinger & Tshering Chonzom

North East Summit- 2013

By PWC India

Press Information Bureau ,India

List of Acronyms:

CVC-Central Vigilance Commission

PWD-Public Works Department

NHAI-National Highways Authority of India

SEZ-Special Economic Zone

FDI-Foreign Direct Investment

IIT-Indian Institute of Technology

NIT-National Institute of Technology

RTI-Right To Information