By Our Chief Reporter
Union Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation Minister, Suresh Prabhu today chaired a meeting for brainstorming and creating an action plan on role of districts in economic growth of the country. The aim of the meeting was to prepare an action plan to increase the growth rate at the district level by 3-4% per annum by accelerating economic activities. Larger aim of this initiative is to help India become a USD 5 trillion economy.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister said that to push growth further, a bottom-up approach is required. Therefore, districts need to be considered as planning and execution units, facilitating change at micro level. In order to achieve this aim, few districts including Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Varanasi and Vishakhapatnam, across different states will be selected in phase 1 of the pilot project. Profile of the districts will be created, identifying strengths and local resources, so as to incorporate it with different sectors and verticals. Efforts will be made to converge government and private initiatives and introduce mechanism for handholding and mentoring. The Minister directed the officials to create an Action Plan in this regard at the earliest.
Representative from different Ministries including Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, MSME, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Statistics & Program Implementation along with NITI Aayog, Department of Economic Affairs and representatives of States of Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were present.
First Meeting of the ‘NITI Forum for North East’ held in Agartala today
The first meeting of the newly constituted ‘NITI Forum for North East’ was held in Agartala, Tripura today. The meeting, organized by the NITI Aayog, Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council (NEC), was co-chaired by the Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog, Shri Rajeev Kumar and the Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr. Jitendra Singh. Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Biplab Kumar Deb, Chief Minister of Nagaland, Shri Neiphiu Rio and the Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Shri Conrad Sangma, besides Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Shri Chowna Mein also participated in the day-long deliberations. Senior Ministers, Chief Secretaries and senior officers of the Central Ministries and State Governments were also present.
In his inaugural address, Shri Rajiv Kumar said the focus of development projects in the NER will be based on the concept of “HIRA” (Highways, Inland Waterways, Railways and Airways) as spelled out by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said emphasis will also be made on Education, Health and Skill Development in the region. He further said that Horticulture, Tourism, Food Processing, use of Bamboo and Made in North-East will be developed through five Mission Mode projects in a time-bound manner.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Jitendra Singh, said the Government has focused on development in a region which more or less remained out of the mainstream for the last seven decades since Independence. He said there has been a significant 21% rise in fund utilization in the North-East during the last three years. Dr. Jitendra Singh said the Central Government has now committed full 100% funding for development projects in the NER, as against 90-10 ratio earlier with the State Governments funding 10% of the total cost.
Nagaland Chief Minister Shri Neiphiu Rio pointed out that Kohima is the only state capital in the North-East which does not have an airport. He said the State Government has acquired land for this purpose and at least one small airstrip at Kohima should be constructed for providing air connectivity to Nagaland under the UDAN scheme.
Meghalaya Chief Minister Shri Conrad Sangma said that development is the solution for all socio-economic problems in the region and through Infrastructure and Connectivity, many development problems can be solved. He said that the National Games-2022 will be held in Meghalaya, which will coincide with the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence. He further said that economic challenges of the NER can be met by removing the physical and economic barriers. Chief Minister of Tripura, Shri Biplab Kumar Deb thanked the Prime Minister for giving Tripura an opportunity to host this prestigious event. He said that the State bordering with Bangladesh from three sides imports more than Rs.300 crores annually from Bangladesh but exports a meager Rs.4.6 crores. He said certain provisions prohibit export of rubber from Tripura, but the same is routed through West Bengal. Shri Deb said Tripura has immense potential in fisheries as the state has the world’s best climate suitable for aquaculture but this has not been exploited.
Representatives of all eight member States of the NER gave their valuable suggestions on Moving towards a prosperous North East Region, the theme for today’s meeting. Secretary, DoNER Shri Naveen Verma and Secretary, NEC, Shri Ram Muivah explained the status of different development projects in the region.
The ‘NITI Forum for North East’ was constituted in February 2018 with an aim to ensure sustainable economic growth of the North Eastern Region (NER) of the country and periodically review the development status in NER.
