New Delhi, May 24: Making a case for a “different approach” towards the region, new Union minister P.R. Kyndiah today said he intended to add teeth to the department for development of the northeastern region. Kyndiah said “peace through development” was the need of the hour and Doner would ensure that.
“All efforts will be made to bring the Northeast on a par with the mainland in terms of economic development. Flow of funds will be ensured and the non-lapsable pool will be rationalised,” he told the media at Vigyan Bhavan, where the department is based.
The Congress leader from Meghalaya is the only representative of the Northeast in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. Santosh Mohan Dev and B.K. Handique from Assam are ministers of state.
Careful not to undermine the importance of traditional tribal institutions such as the ones that exist in Meghalaya, Kyndiah said “more thrust on development” through the department for development of the northeastern region did not imply erosion of the powers enjoyed by institutions of the tribal population.
“Funds will be made available for tribal development, but we will let them develop according to their own genius and culture. Tribals are economically deprived and our efforts will be to find out the pockets of exploitation in the country,” he said.
Apart from the department for Development of the Northeastern Region (Doner), the parliamentarian from Shillong has been given charge of the ministry of tribal affairs.
State governments of the region have often complained that the department should have taken up more projects and sanctioned additional funds from the non-lapsable pool of central resources. The pool is a fund made up of contributions from ministries that have not spent the earmarked 10 per cent of their annual budgets on projects in the Northeast.
The Planning Commission, which approves the annual budgets of all central ministries, is seen to be reluctant at times to sanction the amounts asked for by various departments. For instance, the North Eastern Council (NEC)’s estimate for 2004-05 was Rs 500 crore, but was slashed to Rs 395 crore. The previous figure was, however, sanctioned later at the intervention of former deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani.
Kyndiah said the issue would be taken up with the departments concerned. He also promised to “enhance” the NEC’s stature. “We will try to make the NEC more effective by emphasising co-ordinated development.”
The first step to revitalise the NEC was taken last year with a task force being constituted to compile a report on how to go about it.
State governments voiced their opinions, primarily demanding a greater role for the organisation in the development of the region.
By inducting Kyndiah, the Congress-led alliance in Delhi has departed from the previous government’s policy of not giving anybody from the region the reins of the department for development of the Northeast, which was formed in 2001. It was believed that an “outsider” would have a more objective view of the region and function impartially.
Contrary to the National Democratic Alliance’s opinion, Kyndiah said his antecedents were an advantage. “I am no stranger to the region. I was chairman of the NE MPs’ Forum earlier,” he said.