NEW DELHI, April 7— Flooded by pleas for more funds from the north-eastern States, the Ministry for Development of North-eastern Region (DONER) has sought enhanced Budgetary allocation from the Finance Ministry. Minister for DONER, Dr CP Thakur disclosed this here today that even as he sought an appointment with the Prime Minister to discuss the issue of withdrawal of Central Excise Duty exemptions on certain products.
Talking to newsmen on the sidelines of an exhibition ‘Development Initiatives in the North-eastern Region’, which he inaugurated here this afternoon, the Minister divulged that his ministry has sought allocation of Rs 1050 crore for the current financial year as there were plenty of projects submitted by the State for execution. The Ministry has exhausted its entire Budgetary allocation of Rs 550 crore sanctioned last financial year, he added. But in his meeting with the Prime Minister scheduled for Wednesday, Dr Thakur is not planning to take up the issue of Budgetary allocation but only two issues of withdrawal of Central Excise Duty exemption and additional burden on readymade garments manufacturers.
The Minister, in response to the pressure from the north-eastern states, has already written a letter to the Prime Minister advocating setting aside of the Budgetary proposals. With the Finance Bill due for discussion in both the Houses of the Parliament, the Central Government may be under pressure to withdraw the proposals that were seen as destroying the sanctity of Special Industrial Policy of the North-east.
Dr Thakur, meanwhile, disclosed that DONER was preparing the ground for promoting exports from the region by creating a Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in the region. The background work for undertaking such a project requires a lot of data, which we are collecting”, the Minister divulged.
The DONER, meanwhile, is organising yet another business summit —this time in Bangalore with an eye on the IT industry of South India. The summit, third in the series after Mumbai and Kolkata, is scheduled for mid-August, sources in the Ministry said.
Sources said that several companies in health, IT and communication sectors have shown interest to source human resources from the region. The famous Apollo Group of Hospital for instance with the assistance of DONER recruited 252 nurses from the region. Similar request has been received from IT industry, who are keen to recruit from the North-east.
Meanwhile, the exhibition on North-east organised with an eye on educating the MPs, has been joined by North Eastern Council, Community Information Centres, NEDFi, Department of Tourism of several Ministers and besides the various State governments of the region.
Thakur also told newsmen here today that the BJP was seriously considering repeal of the IMDT Act. He said that a formal view on the issue would be taken during BJP national president, M Venkaiah Naidu’s tour of the State.
If a decision is taken to that effect then the party would sit at the national level to discuss the issue as to how to go about it, he added. Dr Thakur said that the BJP among other steps was considering replacing the IMDT Act with the Foreigners Act. He further added that the BJP was confident that other parties would support the move, he said.