NORTH-EASTERN STATES

Chief ministerN BirenSingh maintained thatwomenofManipur, being at the forefront, had always taken part in many causes of the state for the last many years and played a commendable role in its development.
Many Women are currently holding important posts in institutions, taking part in the administration.

Stating that the contribution of women vendors had been a major part of the rural economy, Biren stressed the need for them to be well aware of the digital world so that they could keep up with the flow of development.

Meghalaya chief ministerConrad K Sangma said as per the law, appropriate action will be taken against those who were involved in illegal coal mining in the state.

Sangma said that illegal activities will not be allowed but one has to realize that the system is huge. Though there are laws to prevent people from committing illegalities, yet these illegal things are happening.

Sangma also said that efforts are being made by the to ensure that no such illegal activities take place.

There has been a significant rise in the rate of immunisation among children inMeghalayawith official data now indicating that immunisation rates have increased from 57% to 91% and institutional deliveries have risen from 46% to 64% over the past few years.

The state Health department wants to achieve nearly zero infant and maternal mortality by ensuring 100% institutional delivery and robust pre and post-natal Services.

Northeast India is Home to 21 of India’s 29 vulnerable freshwater turtle and tortoise species.

Highlights:

A team of herpetologists from the NGO Help Earth’ discovered red-eared sliders in the Deepor Beel Wildlife Sanctuary and the Ugratara temple pond in Guwahati, Assam, between August 2018 and June 2019.

The red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) gets its name from the red stripes around the region of its body where its ears would be, as well as its ability to easily glide from any surface into the water.

This turtle is native to the United States and northern Mexico, and it is a very popular pet.

They grow very fast and there is almost nothing for native species to eat.

It has affected states such as Karnataka and Gujarat, and it has been found in 33 natural waters.

It’s critical to keep this invasive species from taking over the Brahmaputra and other river Ecosystems in the Northeast, because the region is home to more than 72 percent of the country’s turtle and tortoise species, all of which are extremely rare.

It may be mentioned that the Arunachal government has terminated 44 agreements (MoAs) with various private power developers for their failure to execute the projects allotted to them and instead offered those to the CPSUs for development based on their performance and reliability, Mein had informed the Assembly on March 16, 2022.

He said that the had, in accordance to the Centres Hydro Power Policy, signed 153 MoAs with various CPSUs and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) for development of hydropower projects with the total installed capacity of 46,943 MW.

Under the ‘Aama Yojna’ scheme all non-working mothers in the state will receive Rs 20,000 each annually in their bank accounts, Tamang said, adding that only those whose names are in the electoral roll of the state will get the .

The CM said a sum of Rs 100 crore has been earmarked in the budget for the scheme and hoped that it will inculcate the habit of saving among non-working mothers. In the ‘Bahini’ scheme the State Government will provide free sanitary napkins to girl students studying in class 9 and above. Over 18,000 girl students study in class 9 and above in the state. The state government also plans to establish sanitary napkin vending machines in schools and also increase awareness and sensitisation programmes about menstrual Health and hygiene

Several development projects have been taken up by the concerned Ministries and Departments of the Central Government in North Eastern Region (NER), which, inter-alia, include:

Road connectivity:Major ongoing Capital Road Connectivity projects in NER include 4Laning of Dimapur-Kohima Road (62.9 km) in Nagaland; 4 laning of Nagaon bypass to Holongi (167 km) in Arunachal Pradesh; Alternate two-lane Highway from Bagrakote to Pakyong (NH-717A) (152 km) in Sikkim; 2 laning of Aizawl Tuipang NH-54 (351 km) in Mizoram; 4 laning of Imphal Moreh section of NH-39 (20 km) and 2-laning of 75.4 km in Manipur. A total of 4121 km of road projects have been completed by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in NER in the last 7 years (including 2021-22, upto December2022). Projects of length 7545 Km amounting to Rs.1,05,518 crore are ongoing.
Air connectivity:In the North Eastern Region 17 Airports have been made operational.

Recently Donyi Polo Airport (erstwhile Holongi Airport) has been inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh. The development of new Greenfield Airports at Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Silchar Airports in Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya and Agartala Airport in Tripura, etc are ongoing.

Rail connectivity:New projects of length 864.7 km amounting to Rs.19855 crore have been sanctioned in NER since 2014-15 till date. Presently, 20 projects, for new lines as well as doubling, costing Rs.74,485 crore for 2,011 km length falling fully/partly in North Eastern Region are at different stages of planning/ approval/ execution. Out of which 321 km length has been commissioned and an expenditure of Rs.26,874 crore has been incurred.

Waterway connectivity: River Brahmaputra from Dhubri (Bangladesh Border) to Sadiya (891km) was declared as National Waterway-2(NW-2) in 1988. The waterway is being developed with fairway of required depth and width, day and night Navigation aids and terminals. The facilities created and planned would cost Rs.461 crore during 5 years (2020-2025). River Barak was declared as National Waterway-16 (NW -16) in the year 2016. It connects Silchar, Karimganj and Badarpur in Cachar valley of Assam with Haldia and Kolkata Ports through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) Route. The facilities created and planned would cost Rs.145 crore during 5 years (2020-2025).

Telecom connectivity: Department of Telecommunications has also undertaken several projects in the North Eastern States for strengthening telecom connectivity in the region, which,interalia, include (i) Mobile Services in uncovered villages in Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh (National Highways only) and seamless coverage along National Highway; (ii) Mobile connectivity in Meghalaya and along National Highways on 4G Technology; (iii) Mobile connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh and 2 Districts of Assam; (iv) Bharat Net and Wi-Fi Connectivity for Village Panchayats in North Eastern Region; and (v) Hiring of 10 Gbps International Bandwidth for Internet Connectivity to Agartala from BSCCL, Bangladesh via Cox Bazar. In the North Eastern States, 1,358 towers covering 1,246 villages have been installed and providing services.

Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) monitors and keeps track of expenditure by all non-exempted Central Ministries / Departments (currently 55) mandated to spend at least 10% of their Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Central Sector and Centrally Sponsored Schemes for NE Region.

This is to ensure a quantum jump in budgetary resource flows to the region to fill the backlog and gaps in basic minimum Services and . About Rs.3.64 lakh crore have been spent in NER since 2014-15 (upto 30.09.2022) under 10% GBS. The increase in expenditure under 10% GBS in NER is of around 186%, from Rs.24,819 crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 70,874 crore in 2021-22. The BE allocation for the year 2022-23 for NER under 10% GBS is Rs 76,040 crore.

During 2021-22, the expenditure tracking was meticulously done, by grouping the Ministries / Departments into three broadly functional categories and upgraded reporting through PFMS.Resultantly, the expenditure increased by Rs. 22,311 crore (46%) over the 2020-21 level ; and exceeded the target (104%) for the first time ever.

Ministry of DoNER has also been delegated the powers to recommend reallocation of Resources to those Ministries who have higher absorptive capacity for 10% GBS expenditure in NER to enable fuller utilization of allocated resources. Under re-appropriation mechanism, the requests received for seeking additional funds for North Eastern Region from 2 Ministries/Departments, namely Ministry of Civil Aviation and NIPER, Department of Pharmaceuticals respectively were sent to Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance during 2021-22.

The North East Centre for Technology Application and Reach (NECTAR) under the ‘Saffron Bowla’ project has identified a few locations in Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya for saffron cultivation, the Lok Sabha was informed. In Arunachal Pradesh, there is a good Growth of organic saffron with flowers. In Meghalaya, sample plantations were grown at Cherrapunji, Mawsmai and Lalingtop sites.

The total cost of the whole project is Rs 17.68 lakh for Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. Out of which, a tentative amount of Rs 6.00 lakh has been earmarked for Barapani (Meghalaya) site. The following sites have been identified in Meghalaya under the Saffron Bowl project: Barapani, Cherrapunji, Mawsmai, Shillong, and Lalingtop.

NECTAR is an autonomous Society, set up under the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India, with its headquarters at Shillong, Meghalaya. With this, the government is looking at harnessing and leveraging Niche frontier technologies available with central scientific departments and institutions.