Arunachal Pradesh governor addresses 66th Plenary of NEC

Speaking on the occasion the Arunachal Pradesh governor said that since 1971, the North East Council as a forum has been a significant and effective platform for discussing and deliberating upon the developmental issues of the region.

Acharya briefed the adjust gathering on the initiatives under taken by him towards preservation and protection of indigenous tribal culture, tribal scripts, rituals and identity.

The Arunachal Pradesh governor urged the members present to consider the proposal of remaining the council as NAMASTE as this acronym includes the names of all the North Eastern States of the country.

Recalling the recent visit of the 14th Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh, where Dalai Lama had expressed that India is a model for others to follow with a potential to combine its ancient knowledge with modern education in the interest of developing inner peace, the governor said that rapid development in the State, which will go a long way in socio-economic empowerment of the frontier people and the State.

“It will, in turn will guarantee reinforced National Security, optimum harnessing of nature’s bounty and economic prosperity of my State, region and the Nation as a whole. The State of Arunachal Pradesh being one of significant strategic border area States, and in light of the recent developments in relation with China. It is high time to strengthen the infrastructure including road, rail and air connectivity. Unless and until communication network and telecommunication are not up graded, the State cannot progress and this is true for the whole of North East of India,” Acharya said.

The governor appreciated the efforts of the Union Ministry of Railways, in connecting Arunachal Pradesh on the railway map of India and also its recent initiative of flagging off the Naharlagun Shatabdi Express, as this has brought smile on the faces of every Arunachali.

He exhorted that railways will provide all weather and reliable transportation up in the hills.

He urged the Ministry of Railways to also expedite the remaining railways projects including the railway lines up to Tawang, Aalo and Parashuramkund. It will facilitate in transportation of organic horticultural produce, tourists and pilgrims to religious places like Malinithan and Parasuram Kund and safeguarding the frontiers.

At the very outset, the governor conveyed his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaugurating the country’s longest (9.15 Km) bridge , i.e. Dhola Sadiya Bridge as it will instil sense of security and promote economical development of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

He also said that this bridge would be more helpful to the people of Arunachal Pradesh than those of Assam.

He highlighted that the roads are the blood artilleries for peace, development and prosperity of any State. Even though Arunachal Pradesh is the largest State of North Eastern Region, it has the least road density in the country.

The governor urged upon the Union Ministry of Road and Transport to expedite the much awaited Trans Arunachal Highway and requested the union government to actively consider the proposed Arunachal Frontier Highway and East West Corridor.

The governor briefed that Arunachal Pradesh is one of the few States without civilian air connectivity for fixed wing aircrafts. He appreciated the efforts of NEC in funding the Tezu airport project being implemented by Airports Authority of India (AAI) and urged the forum to start flight service to Tezu airport as it will connect the far eastern districts of Lohit, Namsai, Anjaw, Lower Dibang Valley and Changlang.

He briefed that the State Cabinet has approved to forward the proposal for construction of Greenfield airport at Itanagar as recommended by the Technical Committee constituted by Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and urged the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to expedite the implementation of this project.

The governor added that Inland waterways have always been the cheapest means of transportation and the northeast region has many large and small rivers providing facilities for water transport, especially in their plains sections. In Arunachal Pradesh the rivers Siang, Lohit, Subansiri, Burhi Dihing, Noa Dihing, and Tirap are used for navigation by small country boats in those stretches where there are no rapids. This sector needs to be explored and harnessed by reviving the use of waterways- National Waterway 2 running along the Brahmaputra river.

The governor recalled the statement of Late Nanaji Deshmukh, (the then BJP Secretary in the Union Government under the leadership of Atal B. Vajpayee,) in one of the core committee meetings of the BJP, in the presence of P.B.Acharya, (the then BJP Secretary and In-Charge of North East of India) who had then stated, that the State of Arunachal Pradesh could be the Power house of the country as it has a very high Hydro-Power potential, and everyone was surprised by this statement including Atal B. Vajpayee, the then Prime Minister of India.

He added that in order to harness the Mega Hydro-Power potential of the State, the impasse due to environmental and social issues has to be resolved at the earliest. Once these projects become a reality, the State of Arunachal Pradesh would be the Power House of the country, and as a result, huge revenues would flow to the State, which can be used for its socio-economic development.

The governor apprised the gathering that the people of Arunachal Pradesh is pleased to learn about the recent step of Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal that the Central Government is going to plead the pending Subansiri Dam case before the National Green Tribunal to resolve the matter so that the project work can be started at the earliest.

The governor emphasised that Arunachal Pradesh is a important seat of Buddhism and Hinduism as it has the 400 years old Ganden Namgyal Lhatse Monastery at Tawang, the magnificent Golden Pagado at Tengapani and the sacred Parashuram Kund along the banks of river Lohit, the Malinithan associated with legend of Sri Krishna and his consort Rukmini, the nature gifted Siva Lingam at Ziro, and Bhismaknagar to name a few. Therefore, the Governor requested the Union Ministry of Tourism to promote Arunachal Pradesh through all the forums and include the State in the ‘National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spirituality Augmentation Drive (PRASAD)’ Scheme.

Reiterating his concern on monitoring, the Governor advised on including the organized Dormant energy in the State, such as Senior Citizens, Women groups, Ex-military personnel, University Professors, University students’ Organizations, Red Cross Societies, NCC and NSS, Bharat Scouts and Guides, Empowered House wives as independent third party for identifying, motivating, implementing, monitoring and auditing of State and Central Government projects.

Through the NE forum, he requested the Union Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship for setting-up of Skill Development projects in the State, as the country needs to equip its workforce with employable skills and knowledge to make India a developed economy.

The governor also highlighted that as per the norms of UGC, it is mandatory to include Skill Development in the curriculum. Skill building is a powerful tool to empower individuals and improve their social acceptance. The challenge lies not only in a huge quantitative expansion of facilities
for skill training, but also in raising their quality. He added that

The State has empanelled 54 Vocational Training Providers (VTPs), have 6 Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), conducted training for Capacity Building & Skill Development and organised other Short term Employable Skill Development Training sponsored by NEC and other agencies and organisations.

Arunachal Pradesh has a roadmap for skill development in the State and proposes to set up ITI in every District, Livelihood Mission School in every assembly constituency, 100 Multi Skill Development Centres (MSDCs), i.e. One Each in Every Block, setting up of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), setting up of Institute for Training of Trainers (IToT) and to organize Special Skill Development Training Programme for Self Employment for International Border Area Youth Under Border Area Development Programme (BADP).

Focusing on healthcare and education, the Governor said that the Union Government should consider providing adequate amount of funds and resources to create ample state-of-the-art institutions in the field of Science, Medical Science, Engineering, Arts, Management and other specialized streams in the State.

The governor strongly advocated for Private Public Partnerships (PPP) in the field of education, health, agriculture and allied sectors, as it will make the projects reach the beneficiaries to encourage positive participation of the private individuals.

The Arunachal Pradesh governor briefed about the history and condition of the Puroik community till 1994, and the initiatives taken by the State Government through him in empowering the Puroik Community and constitution of Autonomous Puroik Welfare Board for the Puroik community that happens to be one of the most downtrodden and backward community.

The governor called the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to have a compassionate approach while addressing the issue of social welfare and NEC should coordinate so as to ensure that the desired benefits reach the targeted people.

Drawing attention to plights of labourers working in the State under various agencies, the Governor stressed that the Central Government, North Eastern Council and State Government must provide reasonable accommodation, drinking water, health facilities for the labourers, workers and recreation and educational facilities for their children. These labourers must be covered under Food Security Act. They must be provided the basic provisions, granted under the Act.

Highlighting on the challenges of drug menace in the State, the governor requested the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for modernizing the existing Drug de-addiction Centers at Pasighat, Tezu, Namsai, Changlang, Papum Pare and to establish a new drug de-addiction Center at Khonsa.

Sharing inputs on militancy activities in the State and challenges in mitigating it, the Governor urged the Central Government for rehabilitation package and peace bonus to end this menace of insurgency.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)