Statehood and NE under the 11th Plan : Interesting co-incidence
- Sangai Express Editorial :: January 22, 2014 -

For Manipur it was some sort of a co-incidence. Just on the eve of Statehood day, far away in the capital city of the country, the Prime Minister chaired a meeting of North East Chief Ministers and instructed the Planning Commission to constitute a Monitoring Committee with representatives from the North East States to improve co-ordination among Central Ministries.

Infrastructure development in the North East was central to the address of the Prime Minister and while the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwaliah gave a detailed and positive presentation on infrastructural development in the region, Manipur Governor VK Duggal in his message to the people on the eve of Statehood said, “Attainment of Statehood in 1972 fulfilled the long cherished desire of the people of Manipur for getting the full rights and dues of being a citizen of the country. Thereafter the State has progressed by leaps and bounds with a sharp increase in the plan allocation.”

On a larger canvass, the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission noted that continuous focus on the region has led to satisfactory results in the 11th Plan period and even went to the extent of stating that the State Domestic Product growth in the region (North East) has been above the National average for the first time ever in the 11th Plan underscoring the success of the initiatives and constant monitoring by the Planning Commission.

Speaking on different occasions, yet there is a common thread that runs through the statements of Governor VK Duggal and Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission-that is Manipur and the North East have been making strides and walking the road to development. Perfectly complements each other, if one may add. However there is more than meets the eye.

What is there on paper may be very different from what is happening at the ground reality. This is not being sceptical but taking the reality into consideration.

Governor Duggal hit the right note in stating that attainment of Statehood fulfilled the long cherished desire of the people and herein lies the question of why it took decades, after October 1949, for Manipur to be given the status of a full fledged State and let her people get the full rights and dues of being citizens of the largest democracy in the world.

Likewise, why has it taken so long, the 11th Plan, that is 55 years after India adopted the five year plan as a policy, for the North East region to compare favourably with the rest of the country ?

Why has it taken so long for Delhi to pump in more funds in the region, a place which is literally and metaphorically disconnected from the rest of the country, and focus on its development ?

The chicken neck syndrome comes to mind here as well as the baggage and burden of history.

Brings to mind the bomb shell of a statement delivered by former Union Home Secretary GK Pillai that the Prime Minister of the country needs to apologise to the people of Manipur, for wrongs done in the past.

This is however not the time to get bogged down by the burden of history and flog the dead horse but to look ahead.

One reason why special emphasis was given to the North East region is nothing but the Look East Policy, where India wants to gain a foothold in South East Asia and the North East happens to be the gateway to the eastern neighbours.

A policy from which Delhi and the rest of the country stand to gain a lot and to make this a reality, improving or developing infrastructure is a must.

As economists, both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission must know this.

There is also the China factor, especially in the backdrop of the changing political scenario in Myanmar, where the seeds of democracy has begun to spring.

The report from Delhi, that is the meeting between the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of the North East was encouraging and so was the Statehood day message from Governor VK Duggal.

However in digesting these, the relevance of the questions that have been raised here should not be lost on the people.