Himalayan States are traditionally called as the crown jewels of India. It was long felt to have a common platform for these States, now 12 in number, to address their peculiar problems which are somewhat of the same nature as also they have much in commonality for meeting their developmental needs. There are institutional gaps in these mountain states which need to be identified and solutions found out. It is really a commendable step that theCentral Government has given it a serious thought as a result of which National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog recently constituted the “Himalayan State Regional Council” in a major initiative to boost development of these States. This Councilis mandated to review and implement identified action points based on the reports of the five Working Groups.
The entire gamut of things needed to be seen in terms of several perspectives including strategic, environmental,human, cultural and topographical etc together and not any inisolation. The Council, therefore, has to ensure sustainable development of the entire region as it is constituted for the same. It will be a nodal agency for the challenging task of bringing about a paradigm shift in both the nature of developmental policies tailored for the Himalayan States as also how best to implement the same , guided of course, by the reports of the five Working Groups which were constituted on June 2, 2017. The States which would greatly be benefited from the innovative exercise include Jammu and Kashmir, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim Tripura, 2 districts of Assam, and Darjeeling and Kalimpong in West Bengal.
It is in the fitness of things that NITI Aayog gave representation to all the States in the region by inducting in the Regional Council, Chief Secretaries of all the 12 States in addition to its senior officers as well as Secretaries of key Central Ministers including special invitees which means plans shall not be prepared unless there were consultations with and acquiesce from the representatives from the States to suit their needs and requirements. The Working Groups were tasked with preparing a roadmap for action across five thematic areas including Inventory and Revival of Springs for water security, Sustainable Tourism in Indian Himalayan Region, Shifting Cultivation, Towards Transformation Approach, Strengthening Skill and Entrepreneurship, Landscape in Himalayas, and Data and information for informed decision making. The need, besides a greater initiative by the Central Government, is the enhanced cooperation among the Himalayan States themselves as they have problems of the same nature when seen in totality in terms of connectivity, health, education, tourism, trade, inclement weather conditions, changing agricultural pattern, climatic changes etc. There is no doubt that each State while having specific constraints has a lot of potential to help the other.
Representatives of these States of the Himalayan region have their own ecological identity but increasingly arefeeling that they needed a focussed attention from the Central Government although being unanimous in their views that the present NarendraModiGovernment has comparatively done a lot for all Himalayan States in terms of Central grants and sanction of projects.
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