TEZPUR, June 2 ? The NE region of the country is not backward. It is resourceful and has the potential to emerge as the centre of development in the country, said secretary of the North Eastern Council (NEC) PL Thanga here today. Thanga, who was inaugurating a two-day regional workshop on ?Policy Framework for Efficient Management of Water and Land Resources for Poverty Alleviation in NE region?, organised by the North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM) at Dholabari here, besides inaugurating the new administrate building of the Institute, also called upon the NE States not to cover up their shortcomings while pleading for assistance. ?The call a spade a spade policy pays well in matters of attracting assistance,? Thanga said.
Fund is not the only constraint on the way of development, he maintained, saying, investment rate in NE is high today, but the satisfaction level of the people here is low. Something has gone wrong. We must find it out, he said. Elaborating, Thanga said, there is a big difference between the perception of the users and that of the facilitators. This is one of the reasons of popular dissatisfaction in NE region, he said. He also reminded the gathering of senior officers of water resources, irrigation, etc., departments of NE States that future of NE region was lying with its forests. ?Our potential of power, floriculture, etc., will vanish if we fail to protect our forests,? Thanga said. He also released the souvenir brought out on the occasion.
A Shekhar, Advisor (Water Resources), Planning Commission of India, MM Joshi, Additional Commissioner, Union Ministry of Agriculture, I Hussain, Advisor, Irrigation and Flood Control (Command Area Development), AS Dhingra, Commissioner (CAD), Ministry of Water Resources and Bhoop Singh of the Department of Science and Technology, also spoke on the occasion. Dr PV Seethapathi, Director NERIWALM and chairman of the organising committee, welcomed the guests.
However, feedback from the representatives of NE States on national water policies was virtually nil in the session. This was pointed out by Sekhar. He also pointed out that irrigation projects in Assam, Mizoram and Tripua are also taking maximum time in their completion, he said. Dhingra pointed out that because of the tardy pace of completion of the projects Central allocations were also coming down so far as States like Asam are concerned.