Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Mar 3: Hailing the hike in budget allocations for Northeast, particularly the most populous State of Assam, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that, in addition to all other allocations, the single most important announcement of exclusive and unique nature is that of “Organic Value Chain Development” scheme for Rs. 115 crore which will prove to be a game-changer for the entire region. Not only will it help in boosting the enormous unexplored potentials of organic entrepreneurship in the region but would also convert the entire region into a favourite destination for new startups from across the country, he added.
Addressing a press conference at Vigyan Bhavan, Dr Jitendra Singh also mentioned increase in the budget allocation for North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFI) from Rs. 30 crore to Rs. 75 crore which will further boost the Prime Minister’s Start-up India programme in the region. Similarly, skill development Budget enhancement from Rs. 16 crore to Rs. 56 crore will further supplement the Start-up Programme, he said. In addition to all the provisions like 3-year tax holiday and 3-month “exit period” announced by the Prime Minister, the DoNER Ministry will also offer “Venture Fund” for new entrepreneurs so as to ease their financial liability, he added. The Budget also has a provision of Rs. 150 crore for rural livelihood, he said.
Referring to North Eastern Road Development scheme announced recently, Dr Jitendra Singh described it as the first-ever region based road corporation in the history of independent India and expressed gratitude to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for having allocated exclusive Rs. 150 crore for it, which will be devoted mainly to the construction of “orphan roads” connecting the adjacent States. In addition, he said, Asian Development Bank (ADB) will spare funds from its own sources for construction and maintenance of roads in Assam and 5 other States.
Dr Jitendra Singh noted that the Union Budget for 2016-17 will also make the Ministry of DoNER an important player in the “Act East” policy, particularly when the rail line construction to Bangladesh will be shared by the Ministry of DoNER with the Ministry of External Affairs and the indian side of the rail track will be built by Ministry of DoNER at the cost of Rs. 587 crore.
Dr Jitendra Singh thanked the Union Finance Minister for responding to their demand for hike in the Budget of North Eastern Council (NEC) which has been increased from Rs. 700 crore to Rs. 795 crore and the DoNER budget from Rs. 2334.50 crore to Rs. 2400 crore. There had been repeated attempts from our side, he said, because in spite of more than a dozen universities functioning in the State of Assam, the young students will felt constrained to move out to other cities like Bangaluru and Pune for higher education and it is a matter of gratification that a special amount of Rs. 10,000 crore for countrywide upliftment of higher education institutions will spare a share of Rs 1623 cr for North Eastern Region, particularly the State of Assam.
To reinforce the DoNER Ministry’s recently initiated effort to showcases Assam and the entire North Eastern Region in other parts of the country, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the 3 day Destination Northeast was held in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, following the success of which, the Ministry of DoNER now plans similar events in other towns including Bangaluru, Pune and Mumbai. To supplement our efforts, the Union Budget has enhanced the allocation for such funds from Rs. 10.5 crore last year to 17 crore.
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