2011 12 Dec (North-East Focus - Assam)

December 2011
Vol 55
Chief Editor : Rina Sonowal Kouli Joint Director (Production) : V.K. Meena
Editor : Manogyan R. Pal Cover Design : Asha Saxena
E-mail (Editorial) : [email protected]
(Circulation) : pdjucir_ [email protected]
Website : www.yojana.gov.in
Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

Rig Veda
CONTENTS
Look East Policy: A Receding Hype Cost-Effective Innovations for
or A RealiZable Hope? betterment of Humanity..................................................41
Madhurjya Prasad Bezbaruah............................................................5 Primary Education in Assam
Micro Finance in THE North East Subhrangshu Sekhar Sarkar, Papori Baruah....................................43
Amiya Kumar Sharma.......................................................................8 REVIVING THE Tea Industry
Nuclear Power is our Gateway to Bikash Singh....................................................................................47
A prosperous future Media and Development
APJ Abdul Kalam, Srijan Pal Singh................................................12 Prasanta J Baruah.............................................................................51
Infrastructure Scenario for the North East Millennium Development Goals: Way so far
Krishna Dev.....................................................................................18 Subhashree Sanyal...........................................................................54
boosting the economy The Lost Revolution
THROUGH MSMEs I K Barthakur...................................................................................57
Sunil Kr Saikia.................................................................................23 J&K Window . ..............................................................................
Health Status of Women in the North-East Road to Wacha: The easiest route to
Sonalika Chaturvedi.........................................................................28 China via Arunachal Pradesh
do you know? Mrinal Talukdar................................................................................61
SAARC............................................................................................32 Bhupen Hazarika : the Man, the Legacy
Parag Sarma.....................................................................................64
Agricultural Development in Assam
Rabindra Kr Choudhary...................................................................34 Best practices
The Power scenario in Assam Micro Credit changing lives of women
H N Das............................................................................................38 Mamata Mishra................................................................................66
ShodhYatra Economic editors’ conference-2011.............................69
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YOJANA December 2011 1

22 YOJANA
YOJANA December
December 2011
2011
About the Issue
The eight north eastern states of India are characterized by their unique cultures, diversity
of ethnic groups, rich natural resources and flora and fauna. Flanked by hills and the mighty
Brahmaputra river slashing a central path from north to south, the north east is constituted by
the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam
and Sikkim. The NE region covers an area of 2.62 lakh sq.km and accounts for 7.9 of the total
geographical area of the country. This region is land-locked with long international borders and
only a chicken neck corridor connecting it with mainland India.
Due to its peculiar physical, economic and socio-cultural characteristics, the economy of the
North East has a distinctive identity. Despite its rich natural endowments, this region represents
one of the least developed - economically and industrially -regions of the country.
In view of being a strategically and geo-politically sensitive frontier, Government of India is emphasizing on bridging
the gaps in infrastructure, communication, health, education and other integral areas of development of the region
with the rest of the country.
The theme for the December issue of Yojana is North East with focus on Assam. Assam is the gateway to the North
East and has a history dating back to the Vedic ages and has been known successively as Pragjyotisha and Kamrupa.
Asom meaning ‘unparalled’ or its anglicized version Assam is a comparatively modern name. Demographically,
Assam is the most populous state of the region and economically it is the most developed of the eight north eastern
states. Yet, compared to other developed states of the country, Assam lags behind in almost all economic spheres.
Insurgency and law and order problems also have had a deleterious effect on the development of the state.
However, the state economy during the first four years of the Eleventh Plan registered an average annual growth
of 6.76 percent (GSDP at constant 2004-2005 prices). The growth during the period was due to the result of annual
average growth of agriculture and allied sectors at the rate of 4.86 percent, industry sectors at the rate of 2.07 percent
and service sector at the rate of 9.7 percent. Economic Outlook 2010-2011 has also indicated that Assam with low per
capita income is catching up with other prosperous states in the period 1999-2000 to 2008-2009.
In recent times, efforts have been made to establish manufacturing industries based on the available natural resources
and promote small-scale industries based on raw materials available. The Look East Policy also needs to be examined
to open up Assam and the North- East to South-East Asia to facilitate free movements of goods and people between
this part of India and the South East Asian countries. The tea industry, tourism, small scale industries are some areas
in which there is immense scope. The major challenges therefore are developing the power, transport and road
sectors. The state also has a pool of highly qualified technically skilled people. It has a large number of institutions of
higher education, and Assam can produce a sizeable workforce for information based service industries, since these
industries will require low investments in physical capital and infrastructure. All these issues need to be addressed
holistically and region specific policies formulated to speed up the process of development.
In this issue we bring to you articles on various aspects of development in the North East in general, and Assam
in particular.

YE-221/2011
4 YOJANA December 2011

north east
Perspective
Look East Policy: A Receding Hype or

A Realizable Hope?
Madhurjya Prasad Bezbaruah
he ‘ L ook E a s t ’ process of a series of initiatives
T policy (LEP), initiated

by the Government
of India in the early
1990s, generated
considerable optimism
in India’s Northeast region. Beset
with partition-inflicted geographical
for broadening and deepening our
economic and other cooperation
with the countries in the dynamic
growth regions of Southeast and
Northeast Asia” (Pudaite 2007:
8). Coming at the heel of India
embarking upon a market-oriented
isolation and persistent economic economic reform programme, the
retardation for decades, the region conscious initiative for “deepening
suddenly saw in the policy an and broadening” of ties with the
opening of opportunities for East and Southeast Asian countries
Time is ripe for breaking free from the shackles of
isolation and progressing by linking
was understandably inspired by
success of these countries from
taking up more with the prosperous Southeast Asian
economies. These expectations
their market-based outward oriented
development approach. In practice,
intensive diplomatic have however remained mostly manifestation of the policy can
unrealised for nearly two decades be seen in the form of India’s
initiatives and now. The present paper looks into expanding trade relation with
the contents of the policy and then countries of East and Southeast
decisive steps takes up the question whether the Asia and attempts to forge closer
policy can deliver the expectations economic ties with these countries
forward to give the of the region from it. by involving in multi-country
regional formations.
‘Look East’ policy a The Policy and its Manifestation
Dated back to 1992, the ‘Look Following the adoption of the
substantive content East’ policy has in fact never been Look East Policy, trade relationship
formally stated. In the words of of India with the eastern countries
from the Northeast Pudaite, a former Indian diplomat expanded rapidly. Apart from a dip
hailing from Mizoram who was in the volume of trade during the
perspective involved in shaping the policy, East Asian economic crisis in the
it broadly refers to “the ongoing late 1990s, India’s trade with the
The author is Professor, Department of Economics, Gauhati University, Guwahati.

Association of Southeast Asian of sub-regional economic and Wi l l t h e L E P b y - p a s s t h e
Nations (ASEAN) region has had cultural cooperation encompassing Region?
a rising trend (Sen et al 2004). The Bangladesh, China (especially
composition of the Indo-ASEAN Doubts have been raised about
its South-Western part), India
trade has also undergone change Northeast India being able to
(primarily the Northeast region) produce significant exportable
from predominance of primary and Myanmar (BCIM). The main
products to manufactures (Sarma surplus to meaningfully take part in
thrust of the forum has been to the trade. Such doubts are however
and Mehta, 2002). In the last exhort government concerned to
decade, India’s trade ties with not necessarily warranted. For,
improve communication between opening up of trading may unleash
China have also had an upward
trend. South-western region of China new dynamics leading to emergence
and the North-eastern region of of new opportunities. Assam, for
In a bid to further enhance India by developing appropriate instance, can look to export its
economic ties with the eastern road, rail, waterways and air links. excess refinery products in the
neighbours, India has got More specifically, a call was made nearby markets than marketing
engaged with these countries in to revive the ancient silk route the same in the distant parts of
several regional formations such between Assam and Yunnan – the India which will involve higher
as BIMSTEC, Makon Ganga target being on opening the Stilwell transport cost. Indian manufactured
Cooperation (MGC) and Kunming Road. The pace of concretization products originating outside the
Initiatives. Efforts are now on for o f t h e d i ff e r e n t f o r m a t i o n s region are now informally exported
formation of India-ASEAN Free has however been uneven and across Indo-Myanmar border.
Trade Area. Once trade in these items across
substantial progress has been made
so far only in case of BIMSTEC. this border is legalised, the Indian
Initially conceived as a group manufacturers will be able to
for economic cooperation among explore and exploit markets in
Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri The Lep and India’s Northeast
Region the east more extensively. The
Lanka and Thailand, BIMSTEC way the Chinese have established
was expanded in 2004 to include The Look East Policy generated production centres near the border
Nepal and Bhutan and renamed as considerable optimism in the and even inside Myanmar to
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi- penetrate into cross border markets,
Northeast region of the country
Sectoral Technical and Economic the Indian manufacturers can set up
Cooperation. The group has already which had persistently lagged
behind the rest of India in pace production base in the Northeast for
adopted a Framework Agreement catering to the markets in Myanmar
for a BIMSTEC Free Trade Area, of economic development ever
since the time of independence and beyond. There are now added
which is scheduled to be established economic incentives for doing so as
over a period of nine years starting (Bezbaruah 2010). Partition of
the country in 1947 snapped most an attractive package of fiscal and
from 2006. The Mekong-Ganga other concessions has been provided
Cooperation (MGC) was launched of its connectivity with the rest
for new industrial units in the region
in Vientiane, Laos on November of India and the world. Resultant
under the North East Industrial and
10, 2000 when officials from India, geographical isolation and the Investment Promotion Policy 2007
Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, consequent hike in the cost of of the Government of India.
Laos and Vietnam issued a ‘Vientiane movement of man and material
Declaration’ on the framework for to and from the region suddenly Even if the region does not
cooperation. As of now the goals of halted the industrialization process produce exportable goods in any
this project have been kept limited taking place in the region during significant scale, the region will still
mainly to promotion of tourism, the colonial period. The prospect be able to export variety of services,
improvement of surface and air such as transportation, hospitality,
of opening up eastward and
connectivity, development of IT
connecting to the prosperous East financial services, healthcare and
network, fostering closer social education. The ripple effect of trade
and Southeast Asian economies
ties through cultural exchanges and
aroused expectation of being freed in services will benefit the goods
university level networking among producing sectors of agriculture
the member countries. Adopted in a from this shackle of geographical
and manufacturing at the secondary
conclave of non-official think tank isolation. But as the initial euphoria level.
groups and businessmen in 1999 settled down, several doubts started
in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan surfacing, questioning the prospects The critical question in this
Province of China, the Kunming of such expectations turning into context is whether the enhanced
Initiatives aim to explore ways reality. trade between India and her eastern

neighbours will flow through the Northeast India-Myanmar region. Despite the upswing in the
Northeast India-Myanmar corridor. These include the proposals to volume of trade between India
To the extent that the merchandise extend Moreh-Kalewa road to and China, little of this traffic has
needs to be transported between Kalemyo and Mandaley in the heart crossed over the border in India’s
mainland India and Southeast of Myanmar, to connect Champhai northeast region. Considerable
Asia, the continental route through in Mizoram with Tidm and Falam mistrust persists between the two
Northeast India and Myanmar has in Myanmar and to connect the
Northeast region to the port Sittwe countries regarding exchange and
a competing alternative in the form communication across India’s
of the maritime route across the on the Bay of Bengal by developing
Kalodyne River in Mizoram and north-eastern border. China’s
Bay of Bengal. Summing up the periodic claim over Arunachal
Myanmar as a navigable waterway.
issue Baruah (2004: p 23) writes, As these projects get completed, the Pradesh has not made matters easier
“Northeast India thinks Southeast connectivity scenario will change in this regard.
Asian countries as their neighbours. markedly and the Northeast India-
But in the maritime sense the east Myanmar can then turn into an Conclusion
coast of India – Orissa, Andhra or active trade corridor between South
Tamil Nadu – is also next-door to Asia and East Asia. To enable Northeast India
Southeast Asia. Indeed, historically to profit from the ‘Look East’
mainland India’s ties with Southeast Will Myanmar Block the Way? policy, it will be necessary for the
Asia is more maritime-oriented Will the China Factor Ease? Government of India to engage the
than continental. As it has been in More than the connectivity immediate eastern neighbours of
the past, even in modern times it is problem, formidable blocks in Myanmar and China for greater
cheaper and less troublesome for Northeast India’s prospect of cross country cooperation and
India to trade with Southeast Asia opening up eastward remain in closer economic ties. Indeed such a
by sea than by land. The land route the form of the state of affairs in process is an imperative to address
not only goes through a difficult Myanmar and the India-China the trans-border problems of drug-
physical terrain, there is a perception unease relating to the region.
trafficking, arms smuggling and
that the route is full of danger. It Between Northeast India and movement of insurgents that afflict
may be tempting, therefore, for the prosperous East and Southeast the region. Government of India’s
India to have relationship with Asia stands Myanmar. Not only policy for addressing the problems
Southeast Asia that is primarily has the economy of the country of the Northeast region includes
maritime rather than continentally remained backward but the
economic system there is also components like placing the states
oriented.” in the region in special category
anachronistic. Its currency at the
It is true that little of the official exchange rate is overvalued for fiscal devolution, earmarking
expanding India-ASEAN or for that about 150 times. Modern banking fund in a non-lapsable pool to be
matter the China-India trade, has system is virtually non-existent. invested for clearing backlogs in
moved through the Northeast India- Though Indo-Myanmar Border infrastructure and basic services,
Myanmar continental route. With Trade agreement has been there and incentive package for inducing
the existing state of connectivity, since 1995, the official border industrial investment. It is now
the land routes today are perhaps trade has long been reduced to a becoming increasingly clear that the
not conducive for India to trade trickle. Informal border trade (an policy requires another dimension
with countries beyond Myanmar. honourable sounding phrase for
open smuggling) has stagnated that will be in the purview of
But once the ongoing surface the Ministry of External Affairs.
following abolition of quantitative
connectivity initiatives across trade restrictions by India under Keeping the door shut or taking
the Northeast India–Myanmar the WTO agreement (Bezbaruah up only half hearted approach to
region are implemented, the cost 2007). Unless the economic system countries surrounding the region
calculations well turn in favour of in Myanmar is reformed, or at least in the name of India’s security
the continental route. The Asian an arrangement is worked out to concerns will amount to missing
Railway and Asian Highway trade with and through Myanmar out on an opportunity for the region.
projects initiated and pursued by at the unofficial exchange rate, it Time is ripe for taking up more
UN-ESCAP are to connect West is difficult to foresee the Northeast intensive diplomatic initiatives and
and South Asia with East and Indian economy finding a link-up
decisive steps forward to give the
Southeast Asia through Northeast with the prosperous economies
India, Myanmar and Bangladesh. beyond Myanmar. Fortunately, ‘Look East’ policy a substantive
Further, there are several other there have been some hints of content from the Northeast
ongoing projects for improving positive development in Myanmar perspective. q
surface connectivity across the in the recent months. (E-mail : [email protected])

North East
Perspective
Micro Finance in the North East
Amiya Kumar Sharma
n order to appreciate it is viewed in the context of the
I the development of
the micro finance
movement in the NER
one has to look at the
background of the development
of the region with respect to the
geographical area to be developed
and infrastructure needed, it is not
really enough. In fact the Shukla
Commission mentioned that the gap
was more than Rs 80,000 crore in
1997 at prices of that time. Even the
government funds being expended, North Eastern Council calculated
the banking scenario and the that to reach the all India level of
adjustment to the situation by the per capita income by 2020, there
society. Any leader in Assam these would have to be investment of
days is able to point out the most about Rs 1 lakh crore per year in
striking aspect of development the region. These numbers tell us
This is a great history of undivided Assam since only one part of the story, although
the beginning of the planning an important part.
balancing force process in India - that the undivided
But even without the government
Assam’s per capita income was
in the region and higher than the all India average
meeting all the needs, the region
could have developed faster had the
in 1951 and today it is almost
has contributed 30 percent less than the Indian
private initiatives been supported
properly by the banking system. But
to positive average. Definitely something more
once again it is common knowledge
than the mere loss of connectivity
that that has not been so and this is
development in after the formation of East Pakistan
brought repeatedly by the Credit-
must have happened.
all aspects of the Deposit ratio which is much lower
The C e n t r a l G o v e r n m e n t than the all India average. The
region has been giving funds for the region’s economy is mainly based
development of the region which, on the primary sector and the
based on the per capita income banks normally prefer to give loans
looks to be sizeable. But when for non-primary sector activities.
The author is Executive Director, Rashtriya Grameen Vikash Nidhi, Guwahati.

But even then it is seen that the this reason that exploitation in the the formal financial institutions
minimum target of 18 percent that sense of landlord-tenant has not in future. It is also true that banks
the sector deserves according to the been common. Such loans from and financial institutions received
banking norms is not met although the community pool are expensive the NGO-MFIs much better if they
somehow the priority sector lending by banking standards, but then were already a partner of RGVN.
has been met most of the time. There banks are not there to cater to such
are problems related to information clients. In Assam the ‘sanchays’, By 1995 RGVN set up its own
in Manipur - the ‘Marups’ - are direct lending programme called
asymmetry but that is everywhere
well known institutions. Some RGVN-CSP because it was felt
in India. What is more striking is
that although many NGOs were
that the officials are mostly from the sanchays can give loans up to one
lakh within minutes. Even while doing MF at that time they would
outside the region and they work in
not dealing with the loans per se, not be able to serve all the corners
the region with a lot of fear in their
the communities do come to assist in the region. Thus RGVN-CSP
hearts. Naturally, when someone is
the people by organizing for such was the first MF organization in a
offered disproportionate incentives
sense, although it did not have any
to go and work in the NER, the first loans from the members. Thus
micro finance in the NER has been registration on its own. Initially
reaction would be to read between
there since ages, but not as in the it was aimed to be registered
the lines and come up with a scary
form propagated by Md Yunus or as a section 25 company called
scenario about the region. ‘Luit Micro Finance’. Today it is
NABARD.
Aversion to work in the NER registered as the RGVN (NE) MF
is further contributed to by the Looking back one can Ltd., a public limited NBFC.
media who are wont to report only confidently say that Rashtriya
Meanwhile RGVN’s partners
the bomb blasts in the region. One Grameen Vikash Nidhi's (RGVN)
started growing in size and today
wonders how many of them do birth in 1990 signaled the growth of
quite a few of such organizations
report, for example, that one rarely present MF in the region. With its
have outstanding portfolio of more
comes across beggars on the streets returnable grants scheme innovated
than Rs one crore – quite high by
in the NER. More academically, mainly by Sri S M Palia - formerly
NER standards. Smaller ‘NGO –
how many of them know that while with IDBI - RGVN helped the
MFIs’ are more than two hundred
the per capita income in the region small NGOs dealing especially in
in number in the region. These
is lower than the Indian average, the livelihoods of the poor, get hold
NGOs are not pure MF operators
poverty percentage is better (lower) of a small sum to be revolved
and have various other activities.
than the all India picture! amongst the people. By 2010 the
NGOs dealing only with MF are
number of such organizations had
Besides the fact that there is very few in the region. Perhaps they
shot up to nearly seven hundred
better income distribution in the know that loans from the financial
in the NER – the number being
region, there is something else institutions are not going to be easy
inclusive of a few NGOs operating
which perhaps explains the fact for them. Thus they have to play
like SHGs. Today most of the
that NER’s poverty scenario is very a balancing act even though the
NGO- MFIs in the region owe
‘encouraging’ in spite of its low government grants and even donor
their existence to RGVN. RGVN
per capita income. And that could funds do not come easily to them.
taught them the fundamentals of
be the system of community living fund management and accounting. Some other organizations which
– an aspect of the social capital It has been noticed that the NGOs have contributed to the development
of the region not easily noticed in the region were more adept at of MF in the region are SIDBI,
in the rest of India. In most of the collecting savings from the field, NABARD, NEDFi. SIDBI too was
communities in the region, while as done by the sanchays and the instrumental in promoting MF in the
the poor members are given food Marups. This is because of the region. Initially it tried with some
and other assistance by the other lack of banking facilities. Quite small loans to NGOs – although
members there is also a system a few NGOs were formed out these were not in the form of pure
that the common pool of funds of the ‘sanchays’ because of the MF. A second phase of SIDBI
can be used to lend to members possibility that it would be able to loans to MF- NGOs started around
for other needs. Perhaps it is for borrow from RGVN and also from the middle of the last decade. This

was mostly to the existing partners the NGO-MFIs. There is the there was some problem in Andhra
of RGVN like Adarsha Sangha in requirement of renewal by the Pradesh and the one created by
Tripura, Nightingale Charitable NGOs every three years and the Assam Government and even
Society in Assam. In any case the difficulty in registration and the All India Financial Institutions
SIDBI’s assistance came as a big renewal make most people stay were quick enough to ‘show’
stepping stone for the NGOs that away from forming NGOs. In the helplessness regarding NGO loans
were selected. state, most NGOs were formed and even grants. Some of them
for non-livelihood activities like went to the extent of discouraging
NABARD gave more emphasis
advocacy, environment, nature, the collection of savings that the
on SHGs. The NGOs that it
gender etc. but once the NGOs NGOs were carrying on – so that
supported with revolving funds for
learnt that they could also do MF the NGOs were left in a more
MF included RGVN, ASOMI in
it became a very attractive tool to hopeless position.
Assam, YVO of Manipur, to name
a few. MFIs who are registered as assist the people without depending Today, the MF situation in
NBFCs are very few in the region, on grants. Some of the sanchays the NER is like in the other parts
perhaps not more than ten. Some were formed when the youths did of India; but worse because of
NGOs are purchasing old NBFCs to not want to go through the trouble the confusion in the minds of
cross the hurdle of ‘collecting’ Rs 2 of getting an NGO registration. the government officials. This
crore to register a new one. Two things happened recently and confusion is also created by the
almost simultaneously. presence of many fly-by-night
NEDFi took up a scheme for ‘cheat’ funds which have been
MF to reach the remote areas since One, thanks to the Chief Minister
and some dynamic officers in the taking the people of the region for
there was pressure on it - and it was a ride every now and then. There is
unable to serve all the corners as a Government of Assam Rs. 10
crore was made available to the also some fear in the hearts of the
new organization. Initially it took NGO-MFIs of the region that they
off from where RGVN had left - to Assam Financial Corporation to
help NGO-MFIs in Assam receive may be taken out of ‘business’ by
choose the larger NGO partners of the big MFIs like Bandhan, Ujjivan,
RGVN and give them larger sized funds at cheaper rates so that the
Arohan etc. who have started their
loans. Its first loan was to SDCC, an borrowers in turn could borrow
operation in the NER.
NGO in Assam and soon it reached at a low rate. Everywhere else in
many NGOs all over the region. India the authorities cried about the In spite of all this, the NGO-
NEDFi was very proactive in trying high interest in the MF sector but MFIs in the NER have been more
out the traditional institutions for did nothing much to prevent this well–meaning and the cut-throat
carrying out MF. Its experiment –exception being Andhra Pradesh. competition which is hurting the
with the village council in Nagaland In that light the step by the Assam poor as seen in Andhra Pradesh
was a learning experience and even Government was a laudable step. A and other places is not seen here
SBI tried to follow it up later with few good NGOs were selected and until now. One very important
such funding to village councils in were given loan funds. aspect to be pointed out is that in
Nagaland. It is worth mentioning the NE there is an extra-judicial
Two, around the same time a
that the traditional institutions force - that of students’ associations
circular was issued by the Finance and organization which will not
will need some special training
Department of Assam, that NGOs tolerate any wrong doing affecting
before they can be used as banking
cannot engage in MF – nor SHG the poor people of the region.
institutions. Government or the RBI
promotion since these are profit Once again this is part of the social
should take up that activity since
making activities. This came as capital of the region keeping the
there has been much discussion
a big blow to the NGOs and the things under control. This is a
on this. It will help disburse loan
MF sector in the state; as it is, the great balancing force in the region
without collateral in most parts of
Andhra Pradesh crisis had almost and has contributed to positive
the region where land is community
brought lending by the commercial development in all aspects of the
owned.
banks to the NGOs to a standstill. region. q
Government of Assam has The commercial banks in the case
not really been encouraging the of MF loans were the last to come (E-mail :[email protected],
formation of NGOs, especially to the scenario. But as soon as [email protected])

YE-209/2011

Nuclear energy
commentary
Nuclear Power is our Gateway to a

prosperous future
APJ Abdul Kalam

Srijan Pal Singh
very single atom Energy and economy
E in the universe carries

an unimaginably
powerful battery within
its heart, called the
nucleus. This form of energy, often
Energy is the most fundamental
requirement of every society or
nation as it progresses. Look around
you: every step into progress comes
with an addition of demand for
called Type-1 fuel, is hundreds of
thousands of times more powerful energy-cars, ships and aircraft to
than the conventional Type-0 fuels, move, hospitals to give quality
healthcare, education, as it follows
Our nuclear which are basically dead plants
the model of e-connectivity,
and animals existing in the form
programme of coal, petroleum, natural gas production of more and better goods,
is one of the and other forms of fossil fuel. irrigation for better farming.
Imagine a kilometre-long train,
indispensible keys with about 50 freight bogies, Today, India finds itself going
fully laden with about 10,000 tonnes through a phase of rapid ascent
to our future and of coal. The same amount of energy in economic empowerment. Our
our technological can be generated by 500 kg of Type-1 focus for this decade will be on the
fuel, naturally occurring Uranium, development of key infrastructure
leadership, political enough to barely fill the boot of a and the uplifting of the 600,000
leadership and small car. When the technology is villages where 750 million people
fully realised, one can do even better live. All this will need massive
every citizen of the with naturally occurring Thorium, energy. It is predicted that the
nation must in which case the material required total electricity demand will grow
would be much less, about 62.5 from the current 150,000 MW to
realize this kg, or even less according to some at least over 950,000 MW by the
estimates. year 2030.
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is former President of India and Mr. Srijan Pal Singh is an expert in Sustainable Development.

Analysing the international
scenario on nuclear energy
So, will we allow an accident in
Japan, in a 40-year-old reactor at
Fukushima, arising out of extreme
natural stresses, to derail our dreams
to be an economically developed
nation? When a few European
countries, particularly Germany,
decide to phase out nuclear power
that should not become a blanket
argument to take a view against our
nuclear programme.
The decision of Germany
suits its current scenario. It is a
relatively power-sufficed nation Kudunkulum Nuclear Plant
and economically developed — so
it can afford to lose a few plants. India is blessed with the rare, more than 14,000 reactor-years of
More important, Germany has and very important, nuclear fuel of experience. Sixty more units, with
completely exhausted its nuclear the future – Thorium. We cannot a total target capacity of 58.6 GW,
resources. Thus, nuclear energy afford to lose the opportunity to were under construction.
never fits into its goal of energy emerge as the energy capital of the
Much of the destructive power
independence. India, on the other world. India has the potential to be
of nuclear accidents is compared
hand, is the leader of the new the first nation to realise the dream
against the benchmarks of the
resource of nuclear fuel called of a fossil fuel-free nation, which
atomic bombing of Japan by the
Thorium, which is considered to be will also relieve the nation of about
U.S. forces during the Second
the nuclear fuel of the future. $100 billion annually which we
World War. Pictures of mushroom
spend in importing petroleum and
The Indian population is misled clouds looming over cities, charred
coal. Besides, we are also importing
when it is said that some Western buildings, and massive death scenes
millions of tonnes of CO 2 and
nations have ended their nuclear are awakened to form our opinion
other greenhouse gases, which are
programme, or that Japan is of nuclear disasters. But that is
a hazard to the environment and
reconsidering nuclear power plant far from the reality. You cannot
human health.
expansion. The study indicates that compare a nuclear bomb with
most of the prosperous nations are The greenest sources of power a nuclear power plant. Civilian
extracting about 30-40 per cent of are definitely solar and wind. But nuclear applications in the form
power from nuclear power. In India, solar and wind power are not stable of a power plant are designed to
we are not generating even 5000 and are dependent excessively on deliver small amounts of energy
MW of nuclear power from the weather and sunshine conditions. in a sustainable manner over a far
total of about 150 GW of electricity Nuclear power, on the other hand, larger time frame.
generation, most of it coming from provides a relatively clean, high-
coal. Humankind’s ability to combat
density source of reliable energy
nuclear challenges
We should be careful not to with an international presence.
be carried away by the barrage of Today, there are 29 countries We need to put the Fukushima-
anti-nuclear news. What is needed operating 441 nuclear power plants, Daiichi events in the historic frame
for our India, we Indians have to with a total capacity of about 375 of nuclear accidents and analyze
decide. GW(e). The industry now has them. While there was huge loss

to property and disruption of earthquakes. To counter any risk of ability to control the neutrons
normal life, there was no direct from Tsunami and cyclones, the being generated which is done
loss of life due to the accident. plant is elevated, to a minimum by a system called control
As a silver lining, the way the height of 6 metre (pump house) rods. Besides the control rods,
accident was handled - compared and the auxiliary diesel sets are the Kundankulum Plant has
to the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 - at a height of 9.3 metre with uniquely implemented the latest
showed how much progress we a redundancy of four times technology in this domain – The
have achieved in nuclear emergency in the diesel generators. In the Core Catcher. This is basically
management over a period of two case of Fukushima, one of the an underlying structure with
and half decades. The Fukushima- primary reasons for structural Gadolium oxide which would
Daiichi plant was almost five times collapse was the explosion in
“catch the neutrons” in the
as big in terms of power generation event of a highly unlikely
the hydrogen which got out
and contained about nine times meltdown. The core catcher
of control. To counter this,
the nuclear fuel at the time of the is the ultimate defense which
Kudankulum plant has installed
accident. Yet, with better emergency would, without any human
154 Hydrogen recombiners
management learnt over the years, intervention, or need of external
across the plant which can power supply, cool down the
the maximum radiation was less
absorb any leaked hydrogen fuel and reactor.
than 0.4 percent of that released
and prevent any structural
during the Chernobyl disaster. 4) Wa s t e M a n a g e m e n t : A
damage.
On 6th November 2011, both popular myth is that nuclear
2) Thermal Hydraulic Safety:
of us visited the much talked waste is dumped into the
The most advanced safety oceans which kills marine
about 2000 MW Kudankulum feature in the Kudankulum
nuclear plant to understand the life and contaminates water.
plant is the installation of the This is completely false. Yes,
plant’s safety features and how it Passive Heat Removal System many decades ago, some of the
is addressing the concerns of the (PHRS) which is latest in nations used to dump nuclear
people which have inflated as an
technology to ensure rapid waste in deep oceans away
aftermath of the Fukushima Nuclear
cooling of the reactor in the from habitat but that practice
Event. We spent the whole day there
event of a reactor problem. is over now. With the closed
meeting scientists and experts,
The PHRS is a unique steam loop cycle the waste generated
meeting the local people and also
recirculating system which can per year from 1000 MW plant
studying the various facilities of the
continue to cool the plant in is less than 3 percent and that,
plant first hand. At the end we were
the event of the failure of AC after vitrification would not
absolutely satisfied to understand
power and even when the worst occupy a space of about 6 cubic
that this plant is equipped with the
possible scenario of coolant metres.
latest technologies when it comes
malfunction has occurred, A n o th er arg u me n t w h ich
to safety.
without leaking any radiation surrounds the nuclear debate is
There are four important aspects in the atmosphere. There is that nuclear accidents and the
of safety in a nuclear power plant also mechanism to rapidly radiation fallout as the aftermath
which have been addressed in the cool the reactor in emergency would not only harm the exposed
plant. situation using an elaborate generation but also continue to
1) Structural Integrity Safety: system of showers which are impact generations to come. If
The structure of the plant has installed in redundancy across available facts and scientific inquiry
been made with the highest the plant. were given more weightage this
safety standards which doubled 3) Neutronic Safety:In any argument will in all probability be
containment and hermetically nuclear plant the most important proved a myth. Post Hiroshima and
sealed to be safe against cause of failure can be the loss Nagasaki bombing in 1945, the U.S.

government established the Atomic Every year, human activities are the rare occurrence of the
Bombing Casualty Commission adding about 30 billion tonnes of tremendous stress load of an
(ABCC) in 1946 to assess the CO2 into the atmosphere. The IPCC earthquake coupled with the
late-effects of radiation among the estimates that 26 percent of this unprecedented shear load of
atomic bomb survivors. In 1974, it emission (about 7.6 billion tonnes) a tsunami. The occurrence of
was reconstituted as a joint venture is a direct consequence of electricity four failures in six decades
between the U.S. and Japan as generation requirements. The WHO cannot be made out as a case
the Radiation Effects Research estimates that about 1.3 million for completely disbanding the
Foundation (RERF). The ABCC peoplelose their lives as a result of technology.
and the RERF have extensively urban outdoor air pollution alone,
Let us take a few examples. In
studied the long-term impact of and about 140,000 are causalities
1903, the Wright brothers translated
radiation and nuclear disaster across to adaptation challenges of climate
into reality the remarkable dream of
generations for over six decades change. Thus, the pollution caused
controlled human flight. In 1908, the
now. Contrary to popular belief, the by power generation activities, first flight disaster occurred, which
findings clearly state that the effect and the climate change associated severely injured Orville Wright
of such exposure is limited only to with them, are directly or indirectly and killed his co-passenger. Today
the exposed generation alone. responsible for about 481,000 deaths air accidents kill more than 1,500
every year. Comparatively, in the people every year. Imagine whether
In the wake of the recent natural
disaster impacting the Daiichi plant
case of the worst civilian nuclear we would be flying between distant
disaster ever at Chernobyl, the United cities, across oceans and continents,
in Fukushima, two concerns are
Nations Scientific Committee on if the incident of 1908, or the ones
prominent. The first is that of safety
the Effects of Atomic radiation later, were used as a reason to
against the plant’s disaster, and the
second relates to the environmental
(UNSCEAR) predicted up to 4,000 disband human flight? The mighty
cancer cases (often curable) due to the ship Titanic sank on its first voyage
impact and the nuclear waste which
accident, besides 57 direct causalities. killing more than 1,500 people.
the plant generates.
Moreover, fossil-based fuels are fast The very first attempt to send man
Let us consider the second issue depleting, and their scarcity is already to the moon, Apollo-1, met with an
first. inspiring geopolitical instabilities accident and killed three prominent
around the world. astronauts. It took another 10
Opportunity cost of nuclear missions, with mixed results, before
energy Safety issues of nuclear power Apollo-11 finally made it to the
a) Abstinence from nuclear power b) Throughout the history of moon in 1969.
is an incomplete response nuclear power generation there The Indian space programme,
without the logical alternative. have been four major incidents which is now ranked among the best
In economics, there is a of plant failure — the Kyshtym in the world, started with a failure in
concept called “opportunity accident in fuel reprocessing 1979 when our first rocket, instead
cost,” which refers to the cost in 1957, the relatively smaller of putting the satellite into a near-
incurred when one chooses the Three Mile Island meltdown earth orbit, went into the Bay of
next alternative. Some part of (United States), the much bigger Bengal. I was the Mission Director
the future need, although only Chernobyl accident (USSR, of the launch, and we were accused
1986) and the recent Japanese of putting a few crores of rupees
a small fraction, would come
incident at Fukushima. The into the sea. We did not wind up our
from solar and wind sources,
first accident was purely due dreams. The mission continued and
with great unpredictability.
to underdeveloped technology, the next year we were successful.
A part would be offset by
and much of the blame for the The argument is, of course, that all
hydro-power too. But in all next two disasters is attributed failures and accidents propel us to
probability we will continue to to human error. Even in the case think and develop better and safer
increase our reliance on fossil- of the Fukushima disaster of technologies towards better service.
based fuel power generation 2011, there were extraordinary Improvement, and not escapism,
methods. natural forces in action — should be our step forward.

Nuclear fuel of the future: Uranium. In the much debated have brought transformation? From
Thorium issue of waste generation also, them I learnt no crowd mongers
Thorium has a relative advantage. and no easy routes have ever
Let us introduce a lesser- It produces waste that is relatively brought progress and change to the
known member among radioactive less toxic. nation. It is only the individual, the
materials — Thorium. Thorium is
Being the largest owner of mighty mind and soul, which have
far more abundant, by about four
Thorium, and also being amongst transformed the worlds, brought
times, than the traditional nuclear
the nations which will see the the innovative transformation and
fuel, Uranium, and occurs in a far
highest surge in power demand he and she had the courage to stand
purer form, too. It is believed that with its growth, the opportunity is
the amount of energy contained in alone for their idea and contribute
for India to vigorously pursue its which in course of time has been
the Thorium reserves on earth is existing nuclear programmes with
more than the combined total energy respected by the masses. I always
a special focus on research and
that is left in petroleum, coal, other development on the Thorium route cherish how Prof. Satish Dhawan
fossil fuels and Uranium, all put as the long term sustainable option, can build a high performance, space
together. And information revealed which we are already undertaking. organization which has today sent
in an IAEA, International Atomic so many satellites in the orbit or how
Energy Agency Report (2005) on The power of the nucleus is
minds like Dr. C. Subramaniam and
mighty and the future of humanity
Thorium fuels indicates that India Dr. M.S. Swaminathan brought the
lies in harnessing it in a safe and
might have the largest reserves of green revolution which today has
efficient manner. Affordable, clean
Thorium in the world, with over enabled us to produce 235 million
and abundant energy provided by
650,000 tonnes. This is more than nuclear sources is our gateway to tonnes of food from 50 million
one-fourth of the total deposits of a future that is healthy, learned tonnes in 1960s. They stood against
Thorium; in comparison, we have and connected — a future that will the fear of failure, didn’t they? Our
barely 1 percent of the world’s span deep into space and crosses nuclear programme is one of the
Uranium deposits. Thorium has the boundaries of current human indispensible keys to our future
many other advantages. It is imagination. and our technological leadership,
estimated that Thorium may be
Conclusion: History is written by political leadership and every
able to generate (through Uranium-
233 that could be produced from it) those who stood for their ideas citizen of the nation must realize
eight times the amount of energy this. q
I was asking myself “What did
per unit mass compared to (natural) I learn from great thinkers who © Authors
National Manufacturing Policy
The Union Cabinet has approved the National Manufacturing Policy that aims to create 100 million jobs by 2022 and
develop mega industrial zones with world-class infrastructure and flexible labour and environment regulations.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the policy
that also aims to increase the share of manufacturing in the economy to 25 percent from the current around 16
percent.
According to the policy, the government would help establish 'national manufacturing investment zones' with
world-class infrastructure and investment friendly regulations to boost manufacturing activities.
with over 220 million people estimated to join the work force in the next decade, the manufacturing sector will
have to create gainful employment for at least half this number.
The policy envisages specific interventions broadly in the areas of industrial infrastructure development,
improvement of the business environment through rationalisation and simplification of business regulations,
development of appropriate technologies especially green technologies for sustainable development and skill
development of the younger population.

nORTH eAST
Focus
assam

North East
aspects
Infrastructure Scenario for the North East
Krishna Dev
he North Region of the terrain and the population
T (NER), “seven
sisters” comprising of
the States of Assam,
Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland,
of this region as its rapid rate
of growth which has tended to
be substantially higher than the
national averages. North East India
is the gateway to and for South
Mizoram and Tripura and it also East Asia. It is the most prosperous
includes the state of Sikkim. The region of India and plays a crucial
region is known for its unique role in the strategic and economic
Infrastructure culture, handicrafts, martial arts, partnership. Approximately
development is and scenic beauty. 4500 km of boundary is shared
with the neighbouring countries
a fundamental The region is ethnically distinct
viz. Nepal, China, Bhutan,
prerequisite for from the rest of India and has strong
Myanmar and Bangladesh. The
ethnic and cultural ties with Southeast
realizing the Asia, with strong ethnic cultures that
problems including insurgency,
unemployment, drug addiction, and
vision of progress had escaped Sanskritization in the
lack of infrastructure are pulling the
ethnic groups of Kuki and some
towards peace other tribes. Linguistically the region
states into the backwardness. Since
the beginning of the economic
and prosperity is distinguished by a preponderance
liberalization in the 1990s, various
and for creating of Tibeto-Burman languages. The
studies have shown that this region
most marked characteristics feature
an investment of this region is the low density
is lagging behind the others in terms
of development.
climate and market of population in all areas other
than Assam and Tripura. The very It is recognized that the eight
development in the low densities in many parts of the states form a special category,
North East region are attributable to the nature various organization, programmes,
The author is Consultant, National Transport Development Policy Committee (NTDPC), Planning Commission, New
Delhi.

groups were set up to boost the economic integration. With the the progress and prosperity of the
development of the region: the development of this new policy region as well as India.
North Eastern Council (NEC) was the Government of India directed
Transport
constituted in 1971 as the nodal its Look East policy towards
agency for the economic and social developing the Northeastern region. Transport is of great importance
development of the region, Hill This policy is reflected in the Year in the region to strengthen its
Area Development Programme End Review 2004 of the Ministry of integration within itself, with
(HADP) in 1974, Task Force for External Affairs, which stated that: the rest of the country and its
study of Eco-development in the “India’s Look East Policy has now neighbours, as well as to transport
Himalayan region in 1981and an been given a new dimension by people and goods more effectively
within and out of the region. It is
Expert Group on National Policy the UPA Government. India is now
a vital input for the proposed shift
for Integrated Development in looking towards a partnership with
from subsistence agriculture to
the Himalayas in 1992 were set the ASEAN countries, both within
cash crop based farming, as well
up by the Planning Commission. BIMSTEC and the India-ASEAN
as the planned development of
The North Eastern Development Summit dialogue as integrally industry and the service sector.
Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) linked to economic and security Most of the area in the region
was incorporated on August 9, 1995 interests, particularly for India’s is hilly and undulating with low
and the Ministry of Development of East and North East region.” population densities, accompanied
Northeastern Region (DoNER) was by low per area production of
As mentioned it is the most
set up in September 2001. goods. In the hilly terrain, what
important region of India but after
it is in the NER (except in Assam
Of late there is a wide recognition the Independence and formation of
and some parts of other states)
among policy makers that the main the States this region is lagging far
development of inland waterways
stumbling block for economic behind with rest of India in most of
is the most expensive. Similarly,
development of the Northeastern the parameters of the development rail connectivity in such a terrain is
region is the disadvantageous and growth. Infrastructure not only time consuming but would
geographical location. The coming development is a fundamental need huge investments, probably
of globalisation propagates prerequisite for realizing the vision beyond the means of the nation. It
deterritorialisation and a borderless of progress towards peace and is road connectivity which would
world which is often associated prosperity and for creating an play a dominant role in fulfilling
with economic integration. investment climate and market the transportation needs of the
The 98 percent of its borders development in the North East. public. Air connectivity would
shared with China, Myanmar, In fact, this is a basic prerequisite certainly play a role for a limited
Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal, for development and has strong segment of people and goods.
the Northeast India has better complementarities with measures
Construction of roads is of the
scope for development in the to improve health and education highest priority for both Central
era of globalisation. As a result, as well as transport, industry and and State Governments in the
a new policy developed among services. Expansion in the supply region. In the Eleventh Plan, under
intellectuals and politicians that one of basic infrastructure is extremely the various interventions of the
direction the Northeastern region important for the development of Department of Road Transport and
must be looking to as a new way the region. Apart from delivering Highways, a very massive road
of development lies with political essential services that improve construction initiative has started.
integration with the rest of India the quality of life and livelihoods, The completion of this initiative
and economic integration with the these elements of the infrastructure has the potential to change the
rest of Asia, with East and Southeast are crucial for establishing a stable connectivity quality in the North
Asia in particular as the policy of and peaceful society and hence for Eastern Region.

The major network of road and connectivity to 11 District In general, air connectivity is
transportation of goods and HQ is provided under Phase-A also expensive in the hilly areas
passengers in the North Eastern of SARDP-NE).the length to be because of the terrain, which is the
Region is the road network of covered is 4570 Kms. The likely reason for the paucity of airports
82,000 kms. This network is most target date of completion of Phase in other hill areas in the country:
developed in the Assam (35000 A is 2012-13. Phase-B of SARDP- (most have versions of a helipad).
kms) and Arunachal Pradesh (15000 NE will be taken up in the 12th In NER, air travel has been made
kms). The five other main States in Plan. possible by central subsidies for air
the region have networks ranging travel to and from NER (excluding
To provide rail connectivity to all
from 5000 kms. to 9000 kms. Assam).
States in the North Eastern Region
The vast majority are the unpaved
is a national priority. The railroad Despite this, air connectivity was
(Kutcha) roads, which are generally
network is limited to 2500 Kms and extremely unreliable prior to 2002
unsuitable for transport of heavy
lies almost entirely within the State as the limited traffic made the use of
goods.
of Assam (2466 Kms), with short Boeing jets uneconomical and led to
The Department of Road stretches in Tripura (45 Kms) and irregular flight schedules. However
Transport and Highways has been Arunachal Pradesh (1 Kms). Only since 2002 the introduction of
paying attention to the development 960 Kms of this network consists smaller ATR planes has made
of National Highways (NHs) in of standard gauge track suitable flights within NER somewhat more
the North-Eastern region and 10 for haulage of bulk goods and the reliable though Kolkata still seems
percent of the total allocation is majority of the network is made to be the hub rather than Guwahati.
earmarked for this region. The total up of narrow gauge track suitable On the other hand, Guwahati seems
length of NHs in the NE, including for small trains and transportation to be more the natural hub for air
Sikkim, is 6880 Kms and these are of passenger and transportation of traffic within NER. Air connectivity
being developed and maintained smaller cargo. needs substantial investments
by three agencies-the State PWD, and participation from both the
Similarly, there is an urgent
Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Government and private investors.
need for a rail link into Sikkim.
and National Highways Authority The Sixth Sectoral Summit of NEC
The more important issue from
of India (NHAI). on Air Connectivity in Aizawl
the long-term point of view is
declared inter-alia the objective of
Special Accelerated Road strategic planning that will develop
“operationalizing upto 50 airports/
Development Programme for the the rail network with the aim of
airstips in the North Eastern Region
North Eastern Region (SARDP- increasing interstate connectivity.
by the end of the Eleventh Five
NE) would cover improvement/ In addition, rail connectivity has
Year Plan, and providing upto 600
construction of 8737 kms road. to be integrated with developments
flights per week within the region,
The Phase-A of SARDP-NE would in the other avenues of transport
by using the appropriate type
provide the connectivity of all State being proposed for the NER as a
of aircraft, making the required
Capital towns with NH through whole (World Bank 2006). Some
improvements in existing airports/
at least 2 lane road covering useful rail links are already under
airstrips in a time bound manner”.
2304 km has been approved for planning and a few of them have
implementation and Phase-B almost been completed and are A number of infrastructure
which would provide 2-lane likely to be broad gauged. These developments have been proposed
connectivity to the remaining 51 are Jiribum to (near) Imphal and to expand the inland waterway
District Headquarter towns of Dimapur to (near) Kohima. Another network linked to NW-2 and
NER (there are in all 85 District line from Azara (near) Guwahati improve port facilities. A 45-metre
Headquarter towns of NER, 23 airport to Byrnihat in Meghalaya -wide canal stretch is planned
are already connected by 2-lane is in progress. for the Brahmaputra River

from the Bangladesh border to incurring wasteful expenditure on (PPP) mode. The increasing role
Dibrugarh, 750 kilometres east, wheeling power from the central of the centre in power generation in
with a permanent terminal at Pandu, grid. Power consumption also the NER states mainly implemented
24-hour navigational facilities, has remained virtually stagnant through NEEPCO.
and floating terminals at nine in most of the NER states over a
locations along the canal. For the As noted in the Pasighat
period of time, with the exception
Barak River, there is a proposal to Declaration, the total power
of Meghalaya and Sikkim shows
construct a 40- metre-wide channel potential in NER is about 50,000
the lack of economic activities
for the entire waterway, including MW. According to NEC Vision
in the region. In Manipur power
four terminals at strategic overhaul 2020 the estimated hydro-power
consumption has actually declined
locations. Such investments would potential of Arunachal is around
and is stagnant in Assam. This
enable the further development 50,000 MW. The state is expected
shows the differential growth in
of several cargo routes and ferry to generate an additional 22,584
economic activity in the NER
service routes along NW-2. MW hydel power by 2020 in 166
states.
hydel projects, of which only 88
There is also a range of other At present the states are not in a MW is to be created under state
waterways besides NW-2 that position to generate enough power projects, the rest will be under
could be developed and contribute even for their own requirements, central and private projects. In the
to the economic growth of the even though power generation Twelfth Plan alone 15,251 MW of
Northeast and promote Indo- has increased substantially in additional power is to be generated.
Myanmar crossborder trade. The every state after 1996-98. Finally, about 42 percent of the
third major option for increased However, generation seems to additional power is to be generated
inland water transport is the further be stagnant after 1999-2000. by private hydel projects.
development of the international States like Meghalaya are in fact
Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route for A two-pronged strategy needs
identifying less power-intensive
water transport. to be adopted for power generation
areas like high-level tourism, IT
with focus on small/ localized hydel
The development of this route sector, horticulture and so on as
and Thermal and Non-renewable
would increase options for goods thrust areas in their industrial
energy (NRE) projects for catering
movement to and from the Northeast policy rather than large industrial
to local needs. There is also a
and peninsular India through the projects.
need to install high capacity hydel
Sundarbans and Bangladesh,
For the future, ambitious plans and thermal power projects with
improving the accessibility of the
have been drawn up for making associated transmission lines for
Northeastern Region.
NER not only self-sufficient in first meeting the demand for power
Power power but also the ‘power house’ of NER and thereafter that of the
for the rest of the country. As can be rest of the country. A clear and
There is a huge potential for coherent policy is required to be
expected the main source of power
the power generation in the region. evolved for NER which takes into
is likely to be hydel and the focus
Apart from this almost every North account the special characteristics
state would be Arunachal, even
Eastern state is deficit in power. This and needs of the region, so that the
though in Assam, the power supply
power deficit is a major constraint
source has changed dramatically in benefits of power availability reach
in the economic development of
2006 from thermal to hydel. the people of the region.
the region which is important for
the growing state of industrial In addition, since power projects To achieve these objectives,
and other economic activities are capital intensive, most of the top priority attention needs be
based on power in the region. commissioned projects are (or paid to the Small Hydro Power
The states need to develop their would be) in the central sector or Programme (SHP) for NER, to be
internal transmission grids to avoid under public-private partnership supplemented by other sources of

new and renewable energy such as networking and broadbanding. It significant strengthening of the
biomass and solar energy. would be difficult to get the services infrastructure for the development
of a dedicated communication of the IT and ITES sectors in the
Te l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d
satellite for the region and therefore, region. Information technology is
Information Technology (IT)
erection of towers and spreading necessary for the management of
Telecommunication plays a optical fibres presents the viable information required for grassroots
vital role in connecting people with option for the region. Alternatives planning. The compilation and
the rest of the world and improving like utilizing the power transmission collation of data on physical, human
their economic well-being as does and distribution network etc. should and financial resources right from
physical communication. Since be explored for optimizing costs. the village level, preparing the plans,
physical infrastructure in NER their implementation, monitoring
The telecommunication and evaluation in a systematic
is either limited or is expensive,
revolution in the country has led manner requires the application of
telecommunication becomes an
to a dramatic increase in Internet the technology. The most important
even more important mode of
connectivity in the country, which application of the technology is
communication. The teledensity of
has made possible the revolution in governance; e-governance is
the North East is low in comparison
in Information technology. That particularly important to ensure
to the rest of India and only
Internet usage is low in the North that the large public investments
Mizoram has a teledensity higher
East is clear from the insignificant produce expected outcomes. A pro-
than the national average. Further,
number of connections in NER, active and responsive administration
the rate of increase in teledensity
being a low 15,303 in 2002, just will be greatly facilitated by
in the region is slower than the
0.48 percent of the total number e-governance.
national average, which could be
in the country. This increased
due to the limited expansion of
in 2003 but was still less than 1 Technology helps in both
exchange capacity.
percent (0.88 per cent) of the total. education and healthcare. The
Cellular mobile services were It is thus reasonable to conclude spread of information technology
introduced in the region only in that the NER states have not been education could help the region to
2003 after a delay of eight years impacted by the telecommunication become an important hub for IT
than the rest of the country for revolution as much as the rest and ITES industries. It will also
security reasons. There are still of the country. The low Internet provide productive employment
some restrictions in border areas and penetration is particularly worrying opportunities to the youth which can
no signals are allowed within 500 given the long-term plan of rapidly trigger the development process in
metres of the international border. increasing the spread of IT services the region. In the healthcare sector,
This restriction is particularly harsh in the region. information technology has an
to the North East states where important place in the development
While telecommunication of e-medicine. Considering the
a significant population lives in
technology is essential for the importance of IT infrastructure for
border areas and, therefore, should
spread of information technology the development of virtually every
be removed as early as possible.
in the region, the development of sector in the economy of NER, this
To address the situation, BSNL
the latter is an essential prerequisite should be of utmost priority. Given
declared the year 2007 as the
for the development of the region. its complementarity with the power
“Year of Development of Telecom
Information technology cuts across and telecommunication sectors,
Network in NE Region”.
all sectors and technological the plan for the development of
The most important infrastructure upgradation and development the sector should be calibrated in a
required for the development of of every sector depends on the coordinated manner. q
telecommunication including progress made in its spread in
mobile technology is optical fibre the region. This would require (E-mail :[email protected])

north east
potential
boosting the economy through MSMEs
Sunil Kr Saikia
n India, the Micro, the MSME sector contributes 8
I Small and Medium

Enterprises (known
as MSME) today
occupies an important
role in directing the
development process for growth
and prosperity of the country.
percent of the country’s GDP. The
Government of India as well as all
the State Governments therefore,
have been adopting a number of
initiatives for the development of
MSME for increasing income
generating activities, solving acute
During the past 65 years, this unemployment problem, utilising
sector has contributed significantly all natural and human resources
towards building a stable and
optimally, earning more foreign
s o u n d n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y.
Today, MSME comprises of 95 exchanges and eradicating the
regional imbalance of the country.
MSME in India percent of the total industrial
MSME in India is considered
e n t e r p r i s e s i n t h e c o u n t r y,
is considered now accounting for 45 percent of total now to be a panacea for creating
wealth, generating employment and
industrial production, generating
to be a panacea over 80 percent of industrial providing new and better goods and
employment and about 40 percent services. The present MSME sector
for creating of country’s export. At present is shown in Table-I.
wealth, generating Table-I Indian MSME Sector – At a Glance*

• MSMEs: 285.16 lakhs • Ownership pattern :
employment and • Employment generated: – Proprietorships : 94.49%
659.35 lakh – Partnerships : 0.68%
providing new and • Production : At current – Corporate & Others : 4.82%
Prices Rs. 8,80,805 crores • Manufacturing Units : 28.56%
• Exports : Rs. 202017 crores •
better goods and • MSMEs account •
Service Enterprises : 71.44%
Registered MSME: 5.94%
– Industrial Production : 45% • Produces Diverse range of products (more
services – Exports : 40% than 6000- consumer items, capital goods
– GDP Share : 8% and intermediates)
*Up-to 31st March 2010
The author is Head, Centre for Entrepreneurship Development & Management, Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship,
Guwahati.

From Table-I, it can be observed low per capita income, low capital and to some extent outside the
that MSME sector occupies a pivotal formation, inadequate infrastructural country also.
role in our country. However, it is facilities, communication
But due to lack of entrepreneurial
also observed that the MSME bottleneck and geographical
zeal of the local people, particularly
sector in our country have been isolation from the mainstream.
the youth and also lack of availability
facing a tough fight, not only against The region is also characterized
of skilled and semi-skilled labours
its own counterparts (MSME), but by inadequate exploitation of the
in the region, poor infrastructural
also from the large and organised natural and human resources, for
facilities, lack of adequate power
sector of the country and also from which industrial activities are very
supply, lack of encouragement from
the multinational corporations low in the entire region and high
the commercial banks and financial
(MNCs). To make the MSME unemployment rate among the
institutions, limited R & D facilities
sector healthier and to develop relatively highly literate people. The
and lack of proper marketing
a global competitiveness among industrial backwardness is reflected
knowledge, lack of hand holding
Indian MSMEs, the Ministry of in its total number of enterprises.
support etc, the development of the
MSME has passed the MSME Act Only about 1.5 percent of country's
MSME has remained tardy. The
in 2006 and also introduced 10 MSMEs have been set up in the
social and cultural taboos are also
different innovative schemes: region. Though, it has a very small
responsible to a large extent for not
1. Marketing Support/Assistance number of enterprises at present,
developing industries in the region.
to MSMEs (Bar Code) but the North Eastern Region offers
However, at present a number of
vast market opportunities.
2. Support for Entrepreneurial & Organizations/Institutions have
Managerial Development of It is observed that the economy been involved in developing the
MSMEs through Incubators of the North Eastern Region is entrepreneurship and enterprises
3. Enabling Manufacturing sector predominantly an agrarian in the region. At present, apart
to be competitive through economy, based on agriculture from the Directorate of Industries
Quality Management Standards and horticultural crops etc. The and Commerce in all the states
& Quality Technology Tools region on the other hand has of the north east including its
(QMS/QTT) vast potential for setting up of District Industries and Commerce
number of enterprises, based on its Centre (DICC), Directorate of
4. Building Awareness on IPR for
own resources like- agriculture, Rural Development (DRDA),
MSME
horticulture, forest, jute, rubber, tea, State Industrial Development
5. L e a n M a n u f a c t u r i n g medicinal plants, cane and bamboo, Corporations (SIDCs) like ASIDC
Competiveness for MSME oil, gas, coal, hydro electric ete. and AIDC (Assam), TIDC
6. Mini Tool Room (MTR) These resources can be utilized by (Tripura), MIDC (Meghalaya),
7. Design Clinic Scheme for setting up number of industries in MANIDCO (Manipur), APSFDC
design expertise to MSMEs the region, particularly in MSME (Arunachal Pradesh), Sikkim
Manufacturing (DESIGN) sector, including the service sector Industrial Development Investment
8. Marketing Assistance & enterprises. Similarly, the region is Corporation (SIDICO) etc, State
Technology Upgradation also very rich in flora and fauna and Institute of Rural Developments
Scheme in MSMEs traditional arts and crafts, mainly in (SIRDs) like SIRD (Assam),
handloom and handicrafts sectors. SIPAR (Tripura) etc, State level
9. Technology & Quality Up-
Since time immemorial, local Handloom and Handicrafts
gradation Support to MSMEs
artisans have been producing a Development Corporations like
10. Promotion of ICT in MSME variety of handloom and handicrafts AGMC (Assam), MHHDC
Manufacturing Sector (ICT) items, out of which some of the (Meghalaya), MHHDC (Manipur),
items are really superb, exquisite SHHDC (Sikkim), THHDC
2. MSME in North East:
and unique. These products have (Tripura) etc. have been involved
The economy of North East on attracted many people from both in developing entrepreneurship
the other hand is characterized by within as well outside the region and enterprises in their respective

states. Under the cenral sector Authority (APEDA), Marine the concept of developing
also, there are a few Organizations/ Product Export Development entrepreneurship was first
Institutions like Indian Institute Authority (MPEDA), Export Credit introduced in the year 1973 when
of Entrepreneurship (IIE), North Guarantee Corporation (ECGC), Government of Assam under
Eastern Technical and Consultancy Inland Container Depot (Dry Port) the Chief Ministership of Late
Organisation (NEITCO), North etc. have been established or up- Sarat Chandra Sinha introduced
Eastern Consultancy Organisation graded and a few Export Promotion a scheme called ‘Half a Million
(NECON) with its headquarter at Industrial Parks have been set up to
Jobs’ and this was entrusted by
Imphal (Manipur) etc. In addition, help the local entrepreneurs.
creating a separate organization
organization like Micro, Small and
3. MSME in Assam called Entrepreneurial Motivation
Medium Enterprises Development
Training Centre (popularly known
Institute (MSME-DI), National In the state of Assam, the position
of setting up of micro, small and as EMTC) under the State Planning
Small Industries Corporation
(NSIC), Khadi and Village Industries medium enterprise (MSME) is Board. The Government of Assam
Commission (KVIC), North slightly better in comparison to also requested SIET Institute (now
Eastern Handloom & Handicraft the other states in the region. The known as MSME-NI), Hyderabad
Development Corporation present status of micro, small and to be associated with EMTC mainly
(NEHHDC), North Eastern medium enterprises (MSME) in the on training and research in the field
Regional Agricultural Marketing state is shown in Table-II. of entrepreneurship development.
Corporation (NERAMAC) etc. Nine EMTCs branches were set
have been operating in the region for Table-II up in different places of Assam.
developing entrepreneurship as well MSME Sector in Assam – At a
Similarly in the year 1973 North
Glance (4th Census)
as micro and small enterprises. Eastern Industrial Consultancy
Sl. Description Numbers
The region occupies a very No. Organisation (NEITCO) was
strategically and geo-politically 1. Total MSMEs 6,03,541 created by development financial
in the state institutions and banks to cover all
sensitive frontier zone of the
2. Manufacturing 1, 00,556 the states in N.E Region including
country, sharing 98 percent (4600 units (16.66%)
km) with international border with Assam. In 1979, SIET Institute,
3. Service units 5,02,985
the four different countries i.e. (83.34%) Hyderabad separately set-up its
Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan 4. Total 12,34,356 NER Centre at Guwahati. This
and China, while having only 2 Employment SIET Institute became NISIET
percent (33 km) of its border with generated: (NER Centre) in 1984 and Indian
mainland India. As the region has 5. Total MSME in 8,94,485*
NE Region
Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE)
the unique locational advantage of in 1994. In addition, organizations
6. Total MSMEs 285.16 (lakhs)
being situated close to South East in India** under central sector like Micro,
Asian countries it has the potential Small and Medium Enterprises
*Including MSME in Assam
to emerge as a strategic base for **upto 31st March, 2010 Development Institute (MSME-
domestic and foreign investors to Source: Summary of Results of Fourth Census
DI), National Small Industries
of India,2006 & IIE, Guwahati
tap the vast potential markets of
Corporation (NSIC), Khadi and
countries like China, Bangladesh, In Assam, apart from the
Village Industries Commission
Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Directorate of Industries and
(KVIC) have been operating in the
Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Commerce (now known as
Indonesia, etc. To help the local state as well for the region. Other
Commissioner of Industries and
entrepreneurs in the export-import Commerce), a number of other organizations like Office of the DC
sector, a number of organizations organizations/institutions have (Handicraft), National Commission
like- Director General of Foreign been created for the development for Scheduled Caste & Scheduled
Trade (DGFT), Agriculture and of entrepreneurship as well as Tribes Development, NIRD,
Process Food Export Development enterprises in Assam. In Assam, RGVN, CAPART, NEHHDC,

NERAMAC etc. and a number Corporation, Assam Government expected to be completed by the end
of NGOs, Industry Associations/ Marketing Corporation etc. have of 2012. As per Assam government
Forums etc. have been engaged in been set up in the state. estimates, the Gas Cracker Project
developing entrepreneurship and would help to set-up at least 500
In addition to the above, the
small enterprises in the region. downstream enterprises and create
Government of Assam with or
Under the State Government employment of more than one lakh
without help of the Government of
also, a few organizations like people, Assam is already famous
Assam Small Industries India has created some Industrial
infrastructual facilities for the for its tea and petroleum industries.
Development Corporation Apart from these industries, Assam
(ASIDC), Assam Industrial benefit of local entrepreneurs. The
list of such facilities created are is also famous for its traditional
Development Corporation (AIDC),
shown in Table-III. cottage industries like handloom
Assam Government Marketing
and handicrafts, bell/brass metal
Corporation, (AGMC), Assam Similarly, a few Specialized industry, pottery/terracotta etc.
State Hills Industrial Development Industrial Parks have been either There are about 7,00,000 looms
Corporation (SHIDC), Assam Trade created or will be created soon, in Assam, all of which are mostly
Promotion Organization (ATPO), which are shown in Table-IV.
Assam Financial Corporation, traditional. Assam produces about
Assam Electronics Development These facilities would definitely 10 percent of the total natural
Corporation, Assam Khadi & motivate and boost the local youth silk of India, in addition to muga,
Village Industries, Assam Live to set-up more and more enterprises the famous golden silk of the
Stock and Poultry Development in the near future. In addition, the entire world. The bell-metal and
Corporation, Assam Industrial work on a huge gas cracker project brass-metal industries on the other
and Infrastrural Development is going on in upper Assam, which is hand, produce products like plates,
tumblers, pots, sarais etc with a total
Table-III annual production of marketable
Existing Industrial Infrastructure in Assam at a glance finished goods of around 300 tonne.
Sl. No. Particulars Number By the turn of the new century,
1. Industrial Estates 16 Assam had 63.7 percent of the
2. Mini Industrial Estates 6
permanently registered micro,
3. Growth Centres 11
4. Integrated Infrastructure Depot 10
small and medium units in the
5. Common Service Workshops 2 region. Of these, the agro-based
6. Export Promotion Industrial Park 1 sector and timber and wood-based
7. Industrial Growth Centres 3 sectors have had the maximum
8. Commercial Estates 64 share in the number of total micro,
Source: Collected from Commissioner of Industries & Commerce, Assam, 2011
small and medium enterprises
Table-IV registered in the state. Recently,
Specialized Industrial Parks in Assam Clustering efforts are surfacing well
Sl.No. Particulars Number in the plains of Assam, particularly
1. Food Park at Nalbari 1 in sectors like handloom, jute craft,
2. Bamboo Park at Jagiroad 1 eri spinning, bell and brass metal
3. Jute Park at Kharupetia, Udalguri 1
in MSMEs.
4. Textile Park at Silapathar 1 4. Problems of MSME in Assam
5. Plastic Park at Tinsukia 1
There are a number of reasons
6. Mega Agro Hub at Boko 1
for slow growth rate of MSME
7. Growth Pole Project at Kamrup 1
sector in the state, among them the

following may be considered as the 10. Another major obstacle in outside the region, penetrating
major factors. the state is the lack of proper more in semi-urban and rural
1. The infrastructural constraints techno-economic information areas in the region, utilizing more
is well known to everyone. with the concerned of government and private level
MSME sector in the state government departments and emporia, more efforts on sales
suffers from problems like financial organizations; promotion and advertisements,
frequent power failures, bad 11. Inadequate marketing support more concentration on appropriate
rail and road communications, from government level value added products, speed up new
high production cost due to high organizations; product development process cycle
labour cost, high transportation etc. Some of the products from
12. Lack of awareness among
costs, high inventory costs this state as well as from the north
entrepreneurs about various
etc; eastern region have high potential
new schemes launched recently
2. The dearth of entrepreneurial in the state. in the export market for which
talents is an inhabiting factor systematic efforts could be made on
5. Strategy
to accelerate the process of product identification, techniques
industrialization in the state; In order to build a proper and of entering into the export market,
3. Lack of financial support and effective strategy for the finding buyers or importers,
help from banks and financial development of our economy knowledge of preparing proforma
institutions. through the MSME sector, some invoice, calculation of export
of the important strategies could
4. Stiff competition from outside pricing, delivery of the products,
be- motivating and changing of
products mainly on cost factor packaging, export documentation
and packaging, finishing and the mindset and attitude of the
formalities, export logistic etc.
credit facilities; local youth for taking up various
entrepreneurial ventures, improving In conclusion, we can say that
5. Inadequate R & D and testing
the infrastructural facilities by Assam and the entire north-eastern
facilities for most of the
providing adequate power supply, region has enough resources to
MSMEs in the state;
timely finance from the commercial develop the micro-enterprises
6. Non availability of packaging banks and financial institutions, sector. For this, the region needs
facilities (like bottles, providing of required information a positive attitude of the people in
containers, cork, packaging quickly (including facilities general and changing of the mind
materials etc) locally, for
and incentives on appropriate set of the local youth in particular
which the enterprises have to
policies and schemes of the central along with sincere efforts from
maintain more inventories;
and state government) by local the concerned government and
7. Lack of adequate testing DICC and other promotional and non-government departments,
facilities available in the developmental organizations. The organizations, institutions etc. The
region. local youth should also change local youth must come forward with
8. Inadequate storage facilities, their attitudes and mind-set and full determination and dedication
particularly after harvesting give proper weightage certain to work hard. The region at this
of a seasonal crop/horticultural important issues like identifying present hour needs a thriving,
item; and finalizing an enterprise based vibrant and strong enterprise,
9. Barring a few urban areas, the on scientific market survey and particularly in the micro and small
marketing network is totally analysis, continuous R & D efforts, enterprise segments for all round
unorganized, for which the product innovations, improving the economic development of the
units have to incur additional quality of products and its design, region. q
expenditures to distribute their shape, size, colour etc, developing
products. effective linkages both inside and (E-mail:[email protected])

North East
Analysis
Health Status of Women in the North-East
Sonalika Chaturvedi
he N orth E a s t a lack of two-way understanding
T consists of eight Indian

states, Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya,
Mizoram, Nagaland,
Sikkim and Tripura, bound in the
within the rest of India and a deficit
of resources.
To cover up these deficits
several schemes and programmes
have been introduced in the North
north by China, Bangladesh in the East to expedite the process of
south-west, in the east by Myanmar development and growth. The Sixth
and on the north-west by Bhutan. Schedule in this regard has been of
West Bengal’s fifty-six kilometre landmark importance as it is ‘‘a self
corridor links this geographically contained Code for the governance
of the tribal areas.’’ This has given
Historically, the separate region from the rest of
India. region at autonomy for governance
north east women and urban and rural development
The stern intra-tribal and inter- through setting up of Autonomous
of India have ethnic differences teemed with District Councils, which has been
demands for autonomy have led to positive for these states.
had a strong an economic and political unrest
Background of Women in the
in the region. This makes the
role in societal problems of rural people worse North East
as the geographical detachment Historically, the north east
building through makes them vulnerable through women of India have had a strong
poor economic growth, lack of
movements as well infrastructure and misuse or decay
role in societal building through
movements as well as participation
as participation of resources natural to the region. in wars. The concept of female
In 1997, the Shukla Commission solidarity is strong amongst the
in wars highlighted the deficits plaguing the women and they have enjoyed a
North-East Region, namely, poor foothold in economic autonomy
infrastructure, deficit of basic needs, as well.
The author is with the Planning Commission, New Delhi.

Manjusri Chaki-Sircar’s book, Table 1: Sex Ratios (Census 2001 Table 2: Percentage of Women in
Feminism in a Traditional Society: & 2011) of North Eastern States the North Eastern states desiring
Women of the Manipur Valley, North East Sex ratio (females Female Children
emphasizes how, for instance the States per 1,000 males)
States Percentage of
Naga women have considerably Total population women who
impacted, the economic policies 2001 2011 wanted more
of the rulers at that time. Manipuri India 933 940 daughters
women have actively participated Sikkim 875 889 than sons
in the economic decisions of their Arunachal Pradesh 893 920 2005-06
communities with a strong sense Nagaland 900 931
Sikkim 5.9
of ‘self-sufficiency.’ In fact, table Manipur 974 987 Arunachal Pradesh 2.1
3 shows low crime rates against Mizoram 935 975 Nagaland 9.8
women in these states which shows Tripura 948 961 Manipur 4.2
the status and respect that women Meghalaya 972 986 Mizoram 22.7
in the north-east command. The
Assam 935 954 Tripura 3.4
emergence of women’s groups
Meghalaya 17
and movements such as Assam These figures are significant for
Assam 2.1
Pradesh Mahila Samiti in 1926, an economically backward region
Nupi Lan (or Lal) movement in which has outstripped the sex ratios Even though Mizoram and
1939 by Manipuri women, Bodo of more developed states of Punjab, Tripura have about 90 percent
Women’s Justice Forum and others Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana. This and 84 percent female literacy
has seen a resurgence of women’s is indicative of low instances of rates it is evident from the table
empowerment and suffragette abusing the scientific determination that the unemployment of women
of female foetus, better knowledge is rampant in these states as well
activities.
of contraceptives and its usage, as others. Arunachal Pradesh’s
Over the course of years the symptoms of the ‘burden of the 27 percent unemployment rate
is a positive indicator as most
education of women in the north bride’ that is, dowry and bride-
north eastern states surge ahead of
east has attained importance. The burning. the national literacy average for
traditional activities undertaken women.
However, there have been
by women such as weaving,
numerous studies which proclaim Another vital and basic indicator
indigenous craft-making and
adverse juvenile sex ratio due of women’s status and well-being
farming activities have given way
to their preference to have male is the state of the health sector in
to rather contemporary occupations offspring. Though the sex-ratios are north east. Health covers dynamic
with the gradual spread of education. towards the increase table-2 also aspects of development and for
Even so, unemployment remains a shows the reason for having high women it is deemed a prevalent and
burning issue as most women still fertility rates is due to the desire to competent indicator of their socio-
have no control in decision-making have male children, which accounts economic growth and development
or resources and thus are generally including rights, standards of living
for the large family size of most
occupied as marginal workers. and status in society.
north east India’s households.
The unemployment figures in This paper looks at the health of
table 3 portray women’s workforce Socio-economic indicators such women in the north east over the
opportunities and subsequent as education and unemployment past decade to map the situation and
participation. among women, however have a status of women’s health, which is a
different story to tell. As can be more accurate indicator of women’s
visible from table-1, the sex seen from table 3, most women status in this region.
ratios in most of the North East are not suitably employed in
North-Eastern Women and
states is a lot better than that of workforce and their level of Health
other states and is mostly above the education can vouch for lack of
national average of 940. skills and opportunities. Health indicators are useful

index of measurement as they Table 3: Literacy and Unemployment Rate of women in the North East
help gauge the reach, delivery,
accessibility and governance of States Female Percentage of women Crime Against
opportunities to a decent standard Literacy Rate unemployed for 12 Women
of living and facilities. In this months before NFHS
scenario, particularly, women’s 2005-06
health can empathically predict the 2011 2005-06
status of not just women but the India 65.46 --
health infrastructure in the region. Sikkim 76.43 68.7 6.80%
Looking at the sex ratios of the Arunachal Pradesh 59.57 27.3 13.40%
eight states of the north east, as seen Nagaland 76.69 54.1 2.10%
in table 1, women have mostly been Manipur 73.17 35.9 7.30%
given equal opportunities. However
Mizoram 89.4 54.4 15.10%
there is scope for improvement
especially in Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura 83.15 67.9 42.50%
Nagaland and Sikkim. A further Meghalaya 73.78 58.8 9.20%
focus on other health indicators such Assam 67.27 70.2 31.80%
as maternal mortalitiy and affecting
factors would help expedite the births occur and only 37 percent Except for Tripura and Arunachal
lowering of mortality ratios and are handled by skilled personnel. Pradesh, teen pregnancies are much
boost women’s numbers at par In the north east region, in table below the national average of 4
with men. 5, save for Mizoram, all the states percent. Taking sociological factors
According to the World health have poor utilisation of health such as culture and religion, it is
Organisation report, almost three- services. there may be availability evident that the other states which
fourths of maternal mortality occurs of health infrastructure to women, are predominantly Christian, have
during the period of delivery or the utilisation of these is minimal better sex-ratios, lower mortality
in post-partum. In this scenario, and the opportunity to health, and lower teen pregnancies.
skilled personnel play an important safety and hygiene is missed. Hence
the necessity for social media An important aspect of women’s
role and ensuring their availability health is the usage of contraceptives
cannot be more emphasised. and communication is of utmost
importance. and its knowledge amongst the
The NFHS data shows that only masses. Table 5 shows the small
47 percent of births were delivered However, the incidence of teen percentage of women in the north
by skilled personnel all over India. pregnancies of women between east who indulge in safe sexual
This is especially disturbing for the ages 15-19 is far less prevalent intercourse. Though the national
rural areas where 75 percent of the in the north east than other areas. average itself is quite poor as
Table 4: Health Infrastructure available to North East Women

North East States Percentage who Percentage of Percentage with Registered Percentage
received all births delivered improved source government using solid fuel
recommended in a health of drinking water doctors per for cooking
types of antenatal facility million population
care
Arunachal Pradesh 6.5 28.5 85 371.4710253 67.7
Assam 9.6 22.4 72.4 76.53451707 75.8
Manipur 10.5 45.9 52.1 247.0355731 64.7
Meghalaya 8.1 29 63.1 196.8891514 72.2
Mizoram 8.7 59.8 85 391.6960439 34.1
Nagaland 1.9 11.6 62.8 144.6340758 76
Sikkim 27.2 47.2 77.6 371.1952487 52.4
Tripura 10.6 46.9 76.1 202.7163998 80.4

Table 5: Teen Pregnancy, Health Services Utilised & Usage of modern effect on women’s health. There
contraceptive in the North East needs to be focus on governance
systems as several PHCs (Primary
North East States Teenage Utilization Modern
Health Centres) which are non-
pregnancy of services contraceptive use
functional and are often used as
(2005/06) (2005/06) (2005/06)
temporary security posts. This
India 4% 46.60% 48.50% is a serious dampener to the
Arunachal Pradesh 3% 30% 37% existing health facilities and in
Nagaland 1.90% 25% 23% such a situation there is always a
security threat, so doctors mostly
Manipur 2.10% 59% 24% run private practices, which are
Mizoram 2.50% 65% 60% steeply expensive whilst the PHCs
Tripura 4.50% 49% 45% remain vacant. There is a dire
need for doctors to penetrate the
Meghalaya 1.50% 31% 19%
interior regions with the booming
Assam 3.20% 31% 27% population and high HIV/AIDS
Sikkim Not available 54% 49% incidence. Mere health camps
are not the solution, there has
only 49 percent married women established the North East Regional to be greater push through state
use modern contraceptives the Office or NERO headquartered at intervention.
usage in north-east is minimal Guwahati. Since 2008, NERO On the whole, women in
except Mizoram. The rise of HIV/ specifically functions as facilitator the north eastern states enjoy
AIDS in this region is another of the National Aids Control a comfortable position, yet the
resultant of ignorance of modern Project-III through planning, darker side includes the wasted
contraceptives. NACO in 2006 implementing, building capacities infrastructure and precedence to
has called the north east spread of and monitoring and evaluations. high-risk diseases. the 12th Five
HIV/AIDs an ‘emergency’ with The year 2010-11 has focussed on Year Plan needs to address these
over 50,800 people of the 2 lakh strengthening the existing systems issues and tap on the positives that
infected Indians primarily from and stepping the capacities of these already exist. The already strong
Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and systems. women’s networks and forums in
Meghalaya. Concluding Remarks the north east can work on this
sector and move forward. q
To address the specific needs of The north east region is turbulent
north eastern states, the NACO has and the conflicts have had their (E-mail : [email protected])
Table 6:Status of Facilities in North East under National AIDS Control Programme as on December 2010
North East State Number Number Number of Number of Number of Number of Number Number
States AIDS of ART of NACO Community Integrated Sexually Targeted of Drop of Red
Control Centre supported Care Couseling Transmitted Intervention in Ribbon
Society Blood Centre &Testing Infection Centre Clubs
Banks Centre Clinic
Arunachal 1 12 0 35 16 21 0 20 18
Pradesh
Assam 3 32 3 83 23 58 2 6 50
Manipur 7 3 9 54 10 54 4 35 32
Meghalaya 1 5 0 9 8 12 1 11 11
Mizoram 1 10 2 27 8 41 7 20 18
Nagaland 5 8 4 60 11 39 14 50 31
Sikkim 1 2 1 12 6 7 1 85 7
Tripura 1 6 2 18 9 18 0 11 14

do you know?
SAARC
What is South Asian Association collective self-reliance among transition to a South Asian Free
for Regional Cooperation the countries of SOUTH Trade Area (SAFTA) leading
(SAARC) ? ASIA subsequently towards a Customs
l To contribute to mutual trust, Union, Common Market and
The SAARC is an organisation
understanding and appreciation Economic Union. In 1995, the
of South Asian nations. In the
of one another’s problems Sixteenth session of the Council
late 1970’s, President Zia-ur
of Ministers (New Delhi, 18-19
Rahman, proposed the creation l To promote active collaboration
December 1995) agreed on the
of trade bloc consisting of South and mutual assistance in the
need to strive for the realization
Asian countries. The Bangladeshi economic, social, cultural,
of SAFTA and to this end an
proposal was accepted by India, technical and scientific fields
Inter-Governmental Expert
Pakistan and Sri Lanka during l To strengthen cooperation with Group (IGEG) was set up in 1996
a meeting held in Colombo in other developing countries to identify the necessary steps
1981. In August 1983, the leaders l To strengthen cooperation for progressing to a free trade
adopted the Declaration on South among themselves in area. The Tenth SAARC Summit
Asian Regional Cooperation international forums on matters (Colombo, 29-31 July 1998)
during a summit which was held of common interests; and decided to set up a Committee
in New Delhi.
l To cooperate with international of Experts (COE) to draft a
The heads of Seven South and regional organisations with comprehensive treaty framework
Asian Countries of SAARC similar aims and purposes. for creating a free trade area
i.e. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, within the region, taking into
What are the Principles of
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and consideration the asymmetries
SAARC?
Sri Lanka signed the charter in development within the region
l C o o p e r a t i o n within and bearing in mind the need
to establish the South Asian
the framework of the to fix realistic and achievable
Association for Regional
ASSOCIATION shall be targets.
Cooperation (SAARC) on 8th
based on respect for the
December, 1985. Afghanistan
principles of sovereign The SAFTA Agreement was
joined SAARC as a Member at the
equality, territorial integrity, signed on 6 January 2004 during
Fourteenth Delhi SAARC Summit
political independence, non- Twelfth SAARC Summit held
in April 2007.
interference in the internal in Islamabad, Pakistan. The
What are the main objectives of affairs of other States and Agreement entered into force
SAARC ? mutual benefit. on 1 January 2006, and the
l To promote the welfare of the l Such cooperation shall not be Trade Liberalization Programme
peoples of SOUTH ASIA and a substitute for bilateral and commenced from 1st July 2006.
to improve their quality of multilateral cooperation but Following the Agreement
life shall complement them. coming into force the SAFTA
Ministerial Council (SMC) has
l To accelerate economic
l Such cooperation shall not be been established comprising
growth, social progress and inconsistent with bilateral and the Commerce Ministers of the
cultural development in the multilateral obligations. Member States. To assist the
region and to provide all SMC, a SAFTA Committee of
individuals the opportunity to What is SAFTA (South Asian
Experts (SCOE) has been formed.
live in dignity and to realise Free Trade Area)?
SCOE is expected to submit its
their full potentials report to SMC every six months.
SAPTA was envisaged primarily
l To promote and strengthen as the first step towards the The SAFTA Agreement states

that the “the SMC shall meet at and activities within the framework Secretary-General and the
least once every year or more of SAARC to strengthen and Ministry of Foreign/External
oftenas and when considered promote regional cooperation in Affairs of the Host Government.
necessary by the Contracting their respective areas. The WGs The Director of the Centre acts
States. Each Contracting State coordinate, monitor and evaluate as Member Secretary to the
shall chair the SMC for a period programmes in this regard. In Governing Board which reports
of one year on rotational basis in recommending target-bound to the Programming Committee.
alphabetical order.” programmes and activities, they The regional centres are;
would also propose mechanisms l SAARC Agricultural Centre
Where is the Secretariat situated and sources of finance to implement (SAC), Dhaka
and how it functions? them. Further, they would also carry l SAARC Meteorological
The SAARC Secretariat is out the directives emanating from Research Centre (SMRC),
based in Kathmandu, Nepal. SAARC higher bodies. Following Dhaka
It coordinates and monitors WGs meet regularly to provide l SAARC Tuberculosis Centre
implementation of activities, inputs on their respective areas of (STC), Kathmandu
prepares for and services co-operation:
l SAARC Documentation
meetings, and serves as a channel l Wo r k i n g G r o u p on Centre (SDC), New Delhi
of communication between the Biotechnology l SAARC Human Resources
Association and its Member
l Working Group on Energy Development Centre
States as well as other regional (SHRDC), Islamabad
organisations. l Working Group on Information
and Communication l SAARC Coastal Zone
The Secretariat is headed by Management Centre
Technology (ICT)
the Secretary General, who is (SCZMC), Maldives
appointed by the Council of l Working Group on Tourism l SAARC Information Centre
Ministers from Member States in What are the Regional Centres (SIC), Nepal
alphabatical order for a three year of SAARC? l SAARC Energy Centre
term. The SAARC Secretariat (SEC), Pakistan
and Member States observe 8 The SAARC Secretariat is
December as the SAARC Charter supported by following Regional l SAARC Disaster
Management Centre
Day. Centres established in Member (SDMC), India
States to promote regional
What are the Working groups cooperation. These Centres are l SAARC Forestry Centre
of SAARC? managed by Governing Boards (SFC), Bhutan
Wo r k i n g G r o u p s ( W G ) comprising representatives from l SAARC Cultural Centre
formulate and over see programmes all the Member States, SAARC (SCC), Sri Lanka q
SAARC Summit in Maldives

The curtain came down on the Seventeenth-SAARC summit in Addu (Maldives) recently with the
South Asian grouping's leaders pushing for trade liberalisation and a host of initiatives that include setting
up a Rapid Action Force to combat natural disasters. Closing the summit, Maldives President Mohammad
Nasheed, the host and chair, announced a set of decisions that included commitments to reducing trade
barriers, strengthening investment and enhancing connectivity.
It was decided by consensus to direct the SAFTA (South Asian Free Trade Agreement) ministerial council
to reduce the sensitive list and non-tariff barriers, Nasheed also thanked India for its initiative in deciding to
reduce the sensitive lists for the least developed countries under SAFTA from 480 tariff lines (categories in
a country's tariff schedule) to 25.
The SAARC leaders also directed the finance ministers of their countries to explore avenues for more
investment in the region. They also decided to conclude a railway agreement and a motor vehicles agreement
before the next meeting of the SAARC council of ministers, expected some time in 2012. Nasheed also
announced Nepal will host the 18th SAARC summit in 2012.

North East
Analysis
Agricultural Development in Assam
Rabindra Kr Choudhary
asically an another 8 percent are engaged
B agro-based economy,
Assam, the largest
state of north-eastern
region has remained
poor because of agricultural
backwardness, in the main. The
in allied agricultural activities
such as-livestock, pisciculture,
horticulture, forestry, etc. Thus,
the state’s economic fate is directly
related to the fate of its farm sector.
The contribution of agriculture
very fact that Assam has to feed to Assam’s state national income
2.6 percent of India’s population is still 40 percent as against only
rice has registered with 1.4 percent of national income 15 percent in the country as a
shows what development distance whole. such is the importance of
a record production the state has to cover to catch up agriculture in the state.
in 2010-11 at with the rest of the country. Even
Assam in the early years of
the other seven states of north-
50.86 lakh tonnes eastern region stand on better
planning was a food-surplus state,
but started to experience deficit
which marks a 15.4 footing since they together earn
since the latter half of second five-
1.3 percent of national income to
year plan due to high population
percent growth over feed 1.2 percent of the country’s
growth on one hand and low level
population. The per capita income-
the previous year distance of Assam from all India per
of production on the other. The
yield rate of food grains in the
and which accounts capita at current prices registered an
period between 1970-71 and 2008-
increase from Rs. 757 in 1989-99 to
for more than 09 increased from 1000 kg per hec.
Rs. 3599 in 1990-2000 and onward
to 1570 kg in Assam as against the
to Rs. 20,250 in 2009-10.
5 percent of the corresponding all India average
The state’s agriculture offers growth from 872 kg per hec. to
country’s total rice livelihood to around 73 percent 1909 kg. The volatile character of
production of its population of whom 57 yield rate in Assam is mainly due
percent are cultivators, 8 percent to heavy dependence on monsoon,
are agricultural labourers and uncertain weather, occasional floods
The author is a retired Professor and former Head of Department of Economics, Gauhati University, Guwahati.

and droughts and large scale pest soil conservation measures, a coverage from 6.3 lakh hectares in
attacks. Production rises when wide network of irrigation system, 1999-2000 to 7.39 lakh hectares in
cultivated land is free from these improved power supply, the training 2008-09 out of the state’s irrigation
hazards. of farmers in technicalities of potential of 27 lakh hectares.
production supported by extension
Assam has been lucky in the last The statistical anomaly may be
services and adequate credit supply
few years. The latest data presented explained by the fact that while
to the farmers. Not withstanding
by the state’s Chief Minister in construction of many irrigation
hundreds of crores of rupees being
his recent address to the National projects has been continuing for
spent every year to save crops and
Development council at New Delhi many years, they are yet to be
cattle from the furies of floods and
in connection with finalization completed. Again, many completed
erosion, no improvement worth the
of 12th five-year plan unfolded projects are lying unoperational
name could one notice even after
that rice has registered a record for want of repair works and
decades. Mismanagement, misuse
production in 2010-11 at 50.86 lakh maintenance. Apart from this, most
of resources, lack of monitoring,
tonnes which marks a 15.4 percent of the small irrigation projects,
a b s e n c e o f a c c o u n t a b i l i t y,
growth over the previous year and especially with respect to shallow
fearlessness of the wrong-doers,
which accounts for more than 5 tube wells became infructuous only
etc. add to the problem. Thousands
percent of the country’s total rice after few months of installation. All
of water pump sets were installed
production. if the production can be these are claimed to be irrigation
in last decades, but most of them
sustained, Assam would be among facilities and, hence, this statistical
soon went unoperational owing to
the few largest rice-producing states anomaly.
either systemic defect or to lack of
of India. Again, the agriculture and
energy supply. According to agricultural
allied sectors of Assam have grown
considerably during eleventh plan Apart from this, public investment experts, the size of operational
at an annual average growth rate of in agriculture, particularly in R&D holding below 2 hectares is
3.2 percent as against 2.9 percent activities which could provide cost uneconomic and, so, are either
in the country as a whole. Given effective improved productivity small or marginal holdings. Except
the huge potential for agricultural methods, is only too meagre. In for Tripura and Manipur, the
growth in the state, the government 1995-96, only 11 percent of the average size of holding is less than
of Assam has legitimately proposed state’s total expenditure was spent 2 hectares. The same for Assam
for incorporation in the plan frame on agriculture and allied activities is the smallest at 1.27 hectares as
a special agricultural policy that and not even 2 percent earmarked against 6.8 hec. in Nagaland, 3.7
should provide adequate resources for research activities. hec. in Arunachal Pradesh, 3.6
and promote the farm sector hec. in Punjab and 1.6 hec. in the
It is disturbing to note that country as a whole. 63 percent of
growth in north-east for a rapid
irrigation facility which is one the state’s total operational holdings
transformation process of the rural
of the most important inputs for are below 1.0 hectare size, while
economy. This should be in line
crop production and sustainable uneconomic holdings comprise 84
with the institutionalization of
agricultural development has percent of the total number. Such
the special infrastructure plan
remained at one of the lowest level extensive scale of tiny plots under
for North-East which was for the
in Assam. It is a pity that only 5.5
first time incorporated in eleventh the existing pattern of technology are
percent of the state’s cropland is unsuitable to scientific cultivation,
plan and which has been under
under irrigation and the irrigated proper tilling and use of improved
implementation process.
area in ten years between 1990-91 implements. Naturally, the expenses
The state’s agriculture has long and 2000-01 increased from 2.03 on labour-time, cattle-power and
been a struggling sector. thus, lakh hectares to just 2.26 lakh other inputs are high and result in
infrastructure level is very low, hectares. This is the data served low productivity.
the most important components by the North-Eastern Council
without which no headway could Secretariat. How ever, the irrigation Assam happens to be the third
be made to agricultural stability department of Assam according to largest jute-producing state of the
are effective flood control and official figures, has increased its country. Though updated data on its

cost structure is not available, the 6,240 tonnes a year due to land from rivers through construction
study made earlier by the centre for erosion alone. of embankments, about one lakh
Monitoring Indian Economy puts hectares of cultivable waste land
With respect to allied agriculture,
the jute production cost of Assam at lying in the state should be brought
10-20 percent higher than in Bihar, live stock farming is a distinct
under farming through appropriate
West Bengal and Orissa, the same advantage in Assam with its cattle
population at 3 percent of the measures.
may be said of most items of food
crops, particularly same may be country’s total. However, milk Secondly, since operational
said of most items of food crops, production is too poor at even holdings are mostly of uneconomic
particularly rice] wheat and pulses, less than one percent in 2008-09 size, determined efforts are needed
leading to their large scale imports due to unscientific farming, fish to consolidate the scattered land
from outside. The recent unrest production which accounts for into co-operative farming units.
among jute growers of Assam more than 2.7 percent of India’s Since drought conditions are not
emanates from the disproportionate total in the same year appears to infrequent and because of the fact
cost-price structure and, hence have a bright future. Egg production that irrigated area as proportion
a support base and concessional needs encouragement because the to cropped area is deplorably
treatment might perhaps be state produces only 0.8 percent of low in Assam and much below
extended to them. As against 2.6 the country’s Production. There
the all states average, topmost
percent of India’s population in is, however, a great possibility
priority should be given to achieve
Assam, the gross cropped area of of horticultural production in not
a a quantum jump in the state’s
the state currently works out to only Assam alone, but in some
irrigation facility. Assam is also
2 percent as also its productivity other states of north-east also. Of
not self sufficient in crop-seeds
lower than the Indian average by the total volume of fruits grown in
and hence the government should
more than 10 percent. Hence, the the country, as much as 6 percent
is produced in the region, mainly procure the same from outside
only way to bridge the gulf is to
in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. and supply at subsidized rate to
raise the per hectare productivity
A special mention should be made cultivators.
to much higher than the all India
level as in case of rice harvest of of pineapple in which the region Again, since income earning
the state, accounting for 5 percent enjoys almost a monopoly status capacity in the state is poor, the
of the country’s total in 2010-11. with 40 percent of the country‘s growth rate of agriculture must
Even with this unprecedented total grown in Assam, Manipur, be substantially higher than the
rice production, the foodgrains, Meghalaya and Tripura. state’s population growth not only
produced in the state works out to to achieve self-sufficiency but
From the foregoing analysis of
2.3 percent of the country’s total, also to feed the agro-processing
Assam’s agricultural sector, what we
i.e 0.3 percent or 7 lakh tonnes less
than the proportionate equality to find is that state’s biggest challenge sectors. Apart from this, the allied
is how to save our crops and cattle agricultural sector, particularly
population.
from the devastation of floods and in the areas of horticulture,
Apart from one lakh hectares erosion censed by the Brahmaputra pisciculture, dairy farming and
of waste land, large scale damages and its tributaries. Experience has poultry production should get
are done to crops by floods or taught us that embankments alone special attention not only to improve
doughts. A study report of Asian cannot arrest the furies of floods the state’s nutrition status but
Development Bank said that the and erosion. Since siltation of river also to create large employment
ever-widening Brahmaputra has - beds aggravate the problem, what opportunities.
been eroding for the last 34 years is urgently necessary is to deepen
an annual average of 3,900 hectares the of river-beds through large Assam should make best use
of land which are mostly cultivable. scale dredging of rivers. Assam of the opportunity thrown by the
The productivity of land under food has lost more than 4 lakh hectares centre’s special green revolution
grains being around 1600 kg per of land due to erosion during the programme which in launched
hectare, the annual loss of crops plan period. While some of the for the benefit of eastern India
in Assam would come to around lost land should be reclaimed including northeast region. q

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north east
appraisal
The Power scenario in Assam
H N Das
round 70 percent upon kerosene which is in short
A of the households of
Assam do not have
electricity connection.
Many people will
find this fact unbelievable in the
twenty-first century and in a state
supply and is very highly priced in
the black market. Some quantity
of rationed kerosene is distributed
by the Government. But the
Public Distribution System (PDS)
is rather inefficient and corrupt
where loud claims of economic too. In the rural areas many people
development have been made in are forced to use fire-wood which
Future plans must be the recent past. But this is the they obtain by foraging around the
based on a very careful most glaring fact about the power depleting forests. This in turn has
sector of Assam today. This figure created problems of environmental
study of the past has been derived from the Budget degradation, climate change and
experience. It must Speech for 2011-12 in which health hazards. The scenario,
be remembered that the Chief Minister had said that therefore, is really grim.
“at present around 75 percent of
“worldwide evidence urban households and 25 percent
The Budget Speech has
acknowledged that “against the
suggests that electricity of the rural households are getting
peak demand of 1100MW, the
power supply.” About 87 percent
reform works only total power available is around
of the people live in rural areas.
in the presence of 800MW”. This estimate seems
Naturally, therefore, only 30
to be based on demand from the
strong, independent percent of the total households
existing consumers. The potential
are getting electricity supply.
regulators, insulated demand from those who are now
from political and Statistics apart the ground deprived has not been included.
situation is pathetic. A majority of With the increase in population
commercial people do not have electricity or and the acceleration in the process
pressure” gas in their houses. They depend of economic development power
The author was Chief Secretary, Assam during 1990-95.

demand will go up many times. failure to meet the requirements corrective steps taken. Everyone
According to Assam Government’s of the existing consumers. Except believes that the situation must
latest estimates the per capita in Guwahati city power is not change and steps must be taken to
availability of electrical energy was supplied regularly in any other ensure future success.
142 kwh in 2008-09. Later figures town. In the villages people get
Several experts have
are not available. Government power hardly for a few hours in
given ideas and constructive
statistics are clumsily presented the day. People, therefore, have
suggestions in the media for the
and different sets are not exactly become restive. In some places
State Government and ASEB
comparable. But ‘average energy agitations were mounted. In a few
to adopt. It is not known what
per capita’ consumption in India locations disturbances and damage
is the authorities’ reaction to
has been estimated at 682 kwh. to public and private property also
such suggestions. I feel that the
As against this the figure has been occurred in protests against power
authorities concerned must change
shown as 10381 kwh in USA and cuts and outages. People have lost
their attitude and examine these
1616 kwh in China. These figures valuable domestic gadgets due to
ideas and suggestions carefully
will show the poor state of affairs voltage fluctuations. Students have
instead of dismissing these as
in Assam. suffered due to power shut downs.
unwarranted criticism.
Businesses have to make alternative
An extrapolation of energy arrangements for power supply I have carefully gone through
demand was made by the State through generators. Households the detailed proposals of ASEB.
Government itself on the basis of have to fix up inverters. The cost These have been again briefly
four assumptions. It was projected of such alternative arrangements outlined in the Governor’s Speech
that peak demand of electricity are tremendous. The social cost of June 7, 2011 and the Chief
in Assam would grow to 2163 of alternative energy sources Minister ’s Budget Speech of
MW in 2011-12, 2572 MW in used up is also large. It has its July 11, 2011. I feel that these
2012-13, 2763 MW in 2014-15 repercussions on the other sectors measures alone cannot meet the
and 3423 MW in 2019-20. The of the economy. These sectors are emerging situation. A systematic
assumptions made were : 100 made to suffer due to shortage of approach is required to solve the
percent household electrification kerosene, diesel, furnace oil etc. problem.
by 2012; GDP growth to catch
up with nation; 10 percent annual The Chief Minister has given In any plan drawn up now
a rather bright picture about the the utmost emphasis must be
growth in industry; and, captive
power scenario in Assam in his given on administration and
generation to come back to grid
Budget Speech. He has also given management reforms. The steps
@10 percent annually. These are
targets for improvement on all taken in the recent past do not
realistic assumptions. However,
fronts. Critics and the general appear to have yielded the desired
the forecasts did not come true
public are, however, sceptical results. It has been claimed that
nor did the Government make any
about the Government’s ability “a 250 million US dollar Asian
concentrated efforts to improve
to achieve such targets. They also Development Bank (ADB) funded
the power supply position. That
doubt the sincerity and devotion Power Sector Reforms Programme
is why demand remained at only
of bureaucrats and technocrats has brought about substantial
1100 MW and supply at 800MW
engaged in the power sector. They changes in the power sector and
in 2010-11 as had been admitted
feel that excuses have been made promoted efficiency in generation,
by the Chief Minister.
up to explain away the failures to transmission and distribution of
There have been protests all achieve the past targets. In most Power”. But people have yet to
over the state against Assam cases the causes of such failures see the improvements. Therefore,
State Electricity Board (ASEB)’s were neither analyzed nor any future plans must be based on

a very careful study of the past region of India. However, in Assam will get 250 MW in the first
experience. It must be remembered Assam it may not be necessary phase and 600 MW when these are
that “worldwide evidence suggests to consider any nuclear power fully commissioned. Another 208
that electricity reform works stations for the present because MW will be available from the
only in the presence of strong, our hydel and thermal resources Lower Subansiri Hydro Electric
independent regulators, insulated are quite substantial. Besides, the Project.
from political and commercial long gestation period of nuclear
pressures”. (Economic Survey, In regard to finance there
power projects will not suit our
should be no difficulty if the
2010-11). time profile. We need power rather
position is properly explained
In Assam “aggregate technical urgently. Therefore, short-term
to the Government of India and
and commercial losses” are very planning will have to be given
the requirements are included
high. It has been claimed that such priority.
in the Twelfth Five Year Plan
losses have been brought down In regard to thermal power which is being finalized now.
from 42 percent to 27 percent generation a number of projects For the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen
(and to 25 percent) in the past five need attention. Such projects Vidyutikaran Yojana which will
years. Certain steps have been include completion of 1250 cover the “Unelectrified Villages”
spelled out to improve the situation
MW Bongaigaon Thermal (UEV) certain indications about
by taking up construction of new
Project, 37 MW Lakwa Waste financing have been given in
substations, replacing of damaged
Heat Recovery Plant, 100 MW the State Budget for 2011-12.
distribution transformers and
Namrup Replacement Project, Similarly, the other schemes and
handing over of selected Feeder
1000 MW coal-based proposed projects being taken up for power
lines to franchisees. It must be
Margherita Thermal plant, 100 development can be financed
realized, however, that large-scale
MW gas-based Amguri Thermal through budgetary and borrowed
power theft is the main cause of
Plant and revival of the 60 MW resources.
power losses. Urgent steps must
Chandrapur Thermal Plant.
be taken to stop such thefts and to The most important point is
When completed these projects
punish the culprits. to ensure that the gap between
will increase thermal power
Moreover, any plan for future power demand and power supply is
supply to Assam. In addition,
power generation in Assam will bridged. If the demand is expected
certain hydro-electric power
have to be based on a proper to go up to 3423 MW by 2019-20
projects are also expected to
configuration of contributions and if the present supply is only
make some contributions. These
from different sources. In regard 800 MW the remaining gap of
include the 150 MW Lower
to the traditional sources former 2623 MW will need to be bridged
Kopili Hydro Electric Project
President APJ Abdul Kalam has during the next 8-9 years. Barring
and a group of five small Hydro
emphasized that nuclear power what can be expected from the
Projects out of which the 4 MW
“provides a relatively clean, high projects under implementation, as
Champamati Project has been
density source of reliable energy mentioned above, and what will be
already completed.
with an international presence.” available from the Central Sector
India’s plans have given due Assam is expecting to get projects the rest will have to be
importance to nuclear power. My substantial contributions from obtained from new thermal and
own research, way back in 1975- central sector power projects in hydel projects. It is the exercise for
77, had clearly brought out the the North Eastern Region. From drawing up of such new projects
superiority of nuclear power as an the Bogaigaon Project of NTPC which must be given top priority
economic option in the southern and the Palatana Project of ONGC, in the immediate future. q

ShodhYatra
Cost-Effective Innovations for

betterment of Humanity
anak Gogoi, since milk from villages around Jorhat
K childhood, always had

a dream and hobby to
do things unique and
different and innovate
things for the betterment of humanity
in a cost effective way. in 1996 he
and selling it in the city.
He continued the milk business
for three years. He supplemented
this income by doing other odd
jobs. While working at various
mechanical workshops in Jorhat,
set up a small garage at his home in his thirst for technical knowledge
Mathura Nagar, Guwahati. From a increased. In spite of being
businessman and product designer, financially insecure, he had found
Kanak has evolved into a serial a new confidence in his abilities.
innovator. Over the years, he has He started his own signboard
The innovator primarily developed transportation
solutions encompassing air, land
workshop in rented premises.
In the year 1986, Kanak’s hard
has also received and water. work paid off and his signboard
business earned good revenues. He
enquiries from Background
diversified into the transportation
Kanak (47) hails from Tekelbora business after investing in a taxi
countries like the village in North Lakimpur District and matador. Unlike job work, this
United States of Assam. His father, Buduram business experienced wild swings
Gogoi, worked as a clerk in the land and needed social networking.
for exploring reforms department. Kanak could neither manage nor
compete in this business and ended
possible technology Kanak completed his primary
up in the red.
education and high school at Laluk.
transfers for his After his High School he went to The news of his bankruptcy
Jorhat and joined the pre-university filtered back to his village. His
technologies course. Dropping out of the course, parents got worried and asked him
he decided to stay back at Jorhat. To to come home for the second time.
earn a living, he started collecting Kanak refused, as he was confident

that he would live to fight another in the levels of potential energy and comfortable to drive and
day. He sold all his belongings and and spring recoil. Against this, handle.
shifted with one taxi to Guwahati. gravitational force again pulls
Compressed air car: This is
He was back to square one and the rider down. Prior art does not
now had to start things right from a car with a unique arrangement;
disclose any comparable model
the scratch. Finally he settled down integration of motorcycles and
where the principle of gravity,
to be a general order supplier to Maruti car engines, run with
rider’s weight and conservation of
various parties and government compressed air. Kanak claims to
energy have been combined.
departments. get a maximum speed of 120 km/h
TRYGO X, a three wheeler: He in this car.
Genesis of innovation developed it to fulfill the wishes
Some of the other innovations
The first innovation Kanak made of his seven year old daughter. As
that Kanak has come up with
was an air gun, almost soundless, she was tired of traffic jams in the
are Powered hang glider using
when he was a student of class city, she asked him to develop a
a 2-stroke motorbike engine in
six. He won the first prize when he small vehicle that could smartly
2001; Aeroboat (Shallow bottom
displayed it in an exhibition. But the zip in and weave through the city
boat propelled with on board aero-
gun was thereafter taken away from traffic. The TRYGO X could weave
propeller) in 2002; Amphibian
him for safety. It was only after he in a lane with a span of 6 feet, and
boat using on board aero-propeller
settled down to be a general order sharply turn and park perpendicular
in 2003; Water bicycle; Treadmill
supplier that he could focus on his to the curb. It can travel at 60 km/
bike; and “Kontilo” 5.5 hp Mini
childhood dream of building cars, hr and has an average mileage of
Tractor for ploughing, tilling and
planes and boats. 30 km/litre.
rural transportation both for hilly
Gravity operated cycle: He has Kanso hybrid car: This is a new and plain terrain
built an arrangement in the bicycle concept hybrid car without gears
to harness the repeated downward P ro d u c t a p p l i c a t i o n a n d
that runs on solar power as well
movement of the rider on a spring- dispersion
as on fuel. The car has a 100 cc
loaded seat. This would charge a engine powered by four solar panels After a lifetime of effort and
spring that would release the energy generating 320 watts of energy. struggle, Kanak’s innovative
and make the cycle move without The engine of the car is basically spirit seems to be finally getting
much pedaling. The rider on the powered by battery power. The recognition at the national and
cycle appears like galloping on a battery charger is hybrid, during global platforms. He received the
horse as he sits on a reciprocating daytime the battery can be charged Vocational excellence Award for
seat fitted to the fulcrum lever. by solar power and at night or in the year 2007-2008 from Rotary
Due to the eccentricity of the rear emergencies the battery can be International, Durgapur. He also
wheel and the spring loaded lever
charged by the fuel. attended the International seminar
arm, the person on the rider’s
on Renewable Energy at New Delhi
seat gets lifted up with changes Retrofitted rickshaw: This is
and Husum, Germany in 2008.
a rickshaw fitted
NIF facilitated participation of the
with a differential
innovator in a Fab Lab conference
to enable each
organized by the Massachusetts
driving wheel to
Institute of Technology at Chicago,
rotate at different
USA in 2007. The innovator has also
speeds, while
received enquiries from countries
supplying equal
like the United States for exploring
torque. The low
possible technology transfers for
rolling resistance
his technologies. q
and lightweight
made the vehicle (E-mail : [email protected],
energy efficient www.nifindia.org)

north east
challenges
Primary Education in Assam
Subhrangshu Sekhar Sarkar

Papori Baruah
he Modern age of In terms of education, Assam
T education in Assam
began with the
annexation of Assam
with the British Empire
in accordance with the
treaty of Yandaboo in 1826. In 1840,
has developed into a top educational
destination in the North Eastern
India as well as the country. To
enhance the status of education
in Assam, the State Government
has introduced many innovative
educational policies. The capital
Late W. Robinson was appointed as
the first Inspector of Schools. In city Guwahati is a key destination
that period, the political and social for higher education for students of
scenario of Assam was unstable the whole of north-eastern region.
A lot needs to be and very less importance was given
to education sector. The British
Primary school education is
most often referred to as elementary
done in the arena of Government had taken initiative
with the help of some local people
school, which is usually composed
of grades one through six. The main
primary education to improve the education system purpose of primary education is to
in Assam. As a result, by the year give children a strong foundation in
in Assam. The main 1875, the number of educational the basics of a general curriculum,
institutions for general education with an emphasis on reading and
challenge lies in increased to 1,293. Most of the math. The following are some of
changes and developments have the features related to primary
bringing the never occurred since independence in education.
1947. After independence, the A primary education is for
enrolled and drop Government has taken major steps children who are approximately
in education sector as it was the five to eleven years old, with
out children into the vital factor to national progress an exception for children with
and security. The construction of learning disabilities and those in
school education Gauhati University building was Special Education. There are no
taken up during the period and age restrictions in these instances.
system an amount of Rs. 43 lakhs was The subjects targeted by primary
allocated for the purpose. education are reading, mathematics,
The authors are Professor and Associate Professor, Department of Business Administration, School of Management Sciences,
Tezpur University, Assam respectively.

social studies, science, physical years. In June 2005, the Central This Directorate is responsible
education, and health. Subjects are Advisory Board of Education for administration control,
not intended for intensive study; (CABE) committee drafted the development and expansion,
rather, they are meant to be taught ‘Right to Education’ Bill and inspection, supervision, monitoring
for general exposure. submitted to the Ministry of Human and evaluation of Elementary
Resource Development. More than Education in Assam. In its effort
Universalization of upper six decades after Independence, the towards Universalization of
primary education in India is Indian government has cleared the elementary education, it receives
normally discussed in terms of major support from Sarva Shiksha
Right to Education Bill that makes
enrolling and retaining all children Abhijan.
free and compulsory education a
belonging to the age group 11 to fundamental right for all children As per the data published by
14. But all children of this age between the ages of 6 and 14. Thus, District Information System for
group (11 to 14) cannot be enrolled it is a herculean task on the part of Education (DISE) developed by the
in upper primary classes unless the government to ensure that all National University of Educational
they complete primary level of children in this age group receive Planning & Administration
education. education. (NUEPA), during 2009-10 Assam
has 53,338 primary schools in its
UNICEF had targeted that Primary Education in Assam 23 districts, where Government
by 2015 all boys and girls should schools account for 44,518
complete a full course of primary School education in Assam representing 83 percent presence.
schooling. UNICEF advocates is imparted through a number of These Government schools are
quality basic education for all, with pre-primary, primary, middle, high mostly run by the Department of
an emphasis on gender equality and higher secondary schools. Education aptly supported by the
and eliminating disparities of all The Government of Assam Sarva Shiksha Abhijan Mission,
kinds. Denying children access to has implemented the free and Assam. The total enrolment of
quality education increases their compulsory education policy children in primary schools during
vulnerability to abuse, exploitation for students up to the age of 14. 2009-10 stands at 32,86,215 where
Schools in Assam are either state children studying in Government
and disease. Free primary school
run or under the management primary schools account for 85
for all children – is a fundamental percent of the total learners. During
right to which governments of private organizations. The
syllabus at primary schools is set the period 2002-03 and 2009-10,
committed themselves under the 5179 Government primary schools
by the Directorate of Elementary
1989 Convention of the Rights of were opened. In 2009-10, Assam
Education, Assam. While most
the Child. has got 13 primary schools per
schools are affiliated to state boards
1000 child population. This figure
Understanding the importance of there are several schools in the state
is not comparable with other states
education, the country has enacted affiliated to the Central Board of
of North Eastern region because of
an Act entitled “Right to Education Secondary Education (CBSE). comparative higher population in
Act” that makes right to education Under the Right to Education Assam. The figure for Arunachal
of every Indian child a fundamental provision, the Government of Assam Pradesh for the same period stands
right. It is a revolutionary step has decided to have one primary at 43. But if we compare density
taken by Government of India school in a radius of one kilometre of primary schools (per 10 sq km
in spreading education among and an upper primary school in a range) in Assam with Arunanchal
children of the country. However, radius of three kilometres. Pradesh, its stands at 5.25 for
it is not a one-day affair as there Assam whereas it is 0.54 for
The Directorate of Elementary Arunanchal Pradesh. The ratio of
has been persistent effort in the Education, Assam is responsible
country for spreading education primary school to upper primary
for management of elementary schools for Assam during 2009-10
among masses. Among important education in the state. It strives stands at 2.85:1 while the national
events, 86 th Amendment Act to achieve the objectives of average is 2.23:1. This situation
(2002) via Article 21A (Part III) decentralizing management of needs to be improved. Assam
of the Constitution of India seeks schools up to Block level, and has recorded average number of
to make free and compulsory organizing activities towards 229 instructional days in 2009-10
education a Fundamental Right for attainment of universalization of as against 224 national average.
all children in the age group 6-14 Elementary Education (UEE). In infrastructure front, Assam is

lagging behind as the average almost 100 percent as a very low of the Right to Education (RTE) in
number class rooms recorded in percent of 3 percent has been providing support to the endevaour
schools of Assam during 2009- recorded as out-of-school as per of universal education. SSA
10 stands at 2.6 against national the data provided by SSA, Assam. also provides its support for the
average of 3.1. The average student- The Village Education Register education of Children With Special
classroom ratio in Assam stands at Needs (CWSN) and in this regard
(VER) is maintained to keep the the services of Resource Teachers
28 in 2009-10 while the national record of out of school children in and Volunteers are also provided
average is 32. It is interesting to each village. by SSA.
mention that Bihar during the same
period has the average student- SSA, Assam has different Discussion and Challenges
classroom ratio at 88. Moreover, components under its jurisdiction for
smooth management of elementary On the basis of several studies
Assam’s position in availability of
education. Besides, it looks after carried out by the authors in the
teachers seems to be modest as 84 area of primary education in
percent of total primary schools in some other segments of learners
Assam, following issues are worth
Assam during 2009-10 have got 2 earmarked as ‘Hard to Reach’ that
mentioning. Attention must be paid
or more teachers. In comparison, comprises of out-of-school children to these issues so that the desired
Arunachal Pradesh has 65 percent who are put to employment for objectives are achieved.
of its primary schools are handled earning purposes. SSA, Assam is 1. Natural calamities affect the
by a single teacher. As such, in running Sanjogi Siksha Kendra normal functioning of the centre
Assam more than 82 percent of (SSK), Residential Bridge Course leading to lower attendance
its total primary schools have got for such children. of learners. In rainy days,
a student teacher ratio of less than attendance is very low due
The SSA has a time-tested to poor road communication
60. Assam has on an average 3 system of administration of primary
teachers per primary school during etc. This is very true in case
the period 2009-10 which is equal
schools in the State of Assam. Each of floods, which is a natural
school is managed by a School phenomenon in Assam.
to the national average. The pupil
Management Committee (SMC) 2. Some areas of the State are
teacher ratio in Assam during 2009-
which is a body comprising of head found to be prone to malaria;
10 has been 25 which is better than
teacher and other members of the deaths of learners are reported
the national average of 33. Thus,
community. To ensure community in many cases. Lack of
Assam’s position in the primary pure drinking water is also
participation, SSA has constituted
education scenario is satisfactory noticed.
Village Education Council (VEC)
when compared to the national
in each village to look after the 3. Village Education Council
scenario. (VEC) has a lead role to
functioning of primary schools
About the Role of Sarba Siksha situated in the respective village. perform. It is seen that where
Abhijan (SSA) Mission, Assam The VEC is headed by President VEC President/Secretary is
and Secretary who are selected sincere and dedicated, the
SSA was launched in Assam primary schools also perform
among respected persons of the well. The selection of an honest,
in 2001-02 along with the rest
village. sincere and dedicated person
of the country. Since then, SSA
Assam has made a significant Thus, SSA works as a support for VEC President, Secretary
progress to expand the horizon of organization that supplements the is of prime importance.
elementary education in the State effort of the education department 4. Exact calculation of out-of-
of Assam. Since its inception, more of the Government of Assam. school children can be made
than 50 lakh children are covered by comparison of Village
SSA, Assam has been actively
through various SSA interventions. Education Register (VER)
contributing by providing grants, figure with those enrolment
SSA Assam has the objectives teachers’ training, monitoring & figures in primary schools. In
of ‘all children in school’ with a supervision etc. Assam, being most of the cases, VERs are
focus on elementary education of special category state, is provided found not to be maintained
satisfactory quality with emphasis with 90 percent grant by the Central properly.
on education for life. With the government while 10 percent is 5. Sometimes Class IV pass-
aim of ‘universal retention’, SSA, provided by the State government. outs find problem in getting
Assam has achieved the target SSA, Assam become the vehicle admission in Class V due

to insufficient number and 12. Accountability of Teaching Schools getting “B” grade will be
capacity of upper primary Learning Materials (TLM) asked to improve while the rest
school in nearby locality. Hence, use in class transactions is will face censure. Thus, the state
in many cases, continuity in to be ensured. It is seen that education department would assess
education suffers. expenditures for TLM are not the performance and award grades
6. Mid Day meal in itself is a properly maintained. TLM to 35,000 odd primary schools in
preparation record is to be the state.
debatable issue. It has both
positive and negative impact. maintained by each teacher The Assam Government has
It is seen that children both so that proper record for each also decided to bring in a structural
enrolled and non-enrolled year’s TLM fund utilization change in the elementary level of
come to school at the time of can be ascertained. education by including Class–VIII
distribution of mid-day meal. The Way Ahead in the upper primary level and
The issue needs a threadbare Class–V in the lower primary level.
analysis. To ensure quality of education in So far, the upper limit of the upper
primary schools of Assam, creating primary level was confined to Class
7. Medium of instruction has – VII. The new arrangement has
awareness among the community
been a vital issue. It is felt that been made as per the mandate of
people for the development of
a bridge language is necessary the Right to Education Act, 2009,
school in their locality is of utmost
for perfect dissemination of which has provided for inclusion
importance. The people should be
knowledge in many of the of the classes between I and VIII
convinced that the development
centres. in the elementary stage. The State
of the school in their locality
8. Evaluation records should be will ultimately help in bringing Government is going to introduce
maintained on gender basis; development of their wards and thus, an eight-year education cycle in the
the same should be maintained would help in their economic well- elementary stage.
in case of attendance register being. Community involvement Conclusion
also. in school activities should be
9. It is seen that though local increased by way of A lot needs to be done in the
people are involved for school arena of primary education in
a) Arranging regular parents’ Assam. The main challenge lies
functioning, however, in many meeting, other members in bringing the never enrolled and
cases community is not aware meeting like VEC, matri got drop out children into the school
of the same. Community etc. education system. For such purposes,
involvement should be b) Regular exhibition of TLM VECs and SMCs have tremendous
strengthened further. responsibilities in checking out
c) Arrangement of Workshops,
10. It is seen that due to poor school sports, cultural of school children. One major
economic condition of the functions, street play, festivals reason for children not coming to
members of SMC/VEC, they etc. school is parents’ ignorance. Thus
are not able to contribute in increasing parents’ awareness is
case of deficiency in annual Once the community people vital. There emerges a need for an
grant provided by SSA. realize their role and responsibilities ‘Education Worker’ like that of a
towards the schools in their locality, health worker (ASHA in NRHM)
11. Enrolment of students in who can move from door to door
provincialized schools is a they themselves will monitor the
utilization of annual grant and increasing awareness of the parents
burning point these days. In and children regarding education
most of the schools where thus can bring a total educational
development in the locality. and monitoring their attendance.
visits were made, it was seen The poor economic condition of
that attendance of students was It is heartening to note that parents also debars their children
very poor. Care is to be taken Government of Assam has not being sent to school. A plan for
for improving enrolment. For decided to introduce the National convergence of programmes under
a holistic approach, quantum Assessment and Accreditation Rural Development and Social
of annual grant may be linked Council-style gradation for the Welfare Department can be thought
with the actual enrolment of state’s primary schools. Schools of in conjunction with the efforts of
students. Physical checking which get “A+” will be given awards education department. q
of pr es ence of enrolled by the Government while those
students are to be carried out securing “A” grade will be awarded (E-mail:[email protected]
at random. by the education department. [email protected])

north east
PROSPECTS
Reviving the Tea Industry
Bikash Singh
espite Assam’s yet to get back to its pristine glory.
D quest for rapid

industrialization
especially in the
manufacturing sector,
centuries old tea sector continues
to be the major industry and largest
The industry has seen depressed
prices for five years starting from
mid-1999.
The all-India average auction
prices of tea, after scaling a peak of
Rs 76 per kg in 1998, started falling
employer. from mid-1999 onwards; prices
Assam is the birth place of reached low of Rs 56 per kg during
Indian tea. The state accounts for 2002 and 2003. Price somewhat
recovered in 2006.
The state accounts 51 percent of India’s tea and 13
percent of global tea production. Tea faced consistent depression
for 51 percent of The sector provides employment to in prices in both the domestic and
around 5 lakh people directly and international markets, a situation
India’s tea and 13 another 5 lakh on seasonal basis. that was further compounded by
percent of global Over 10 lakh persons are dependent rising cost of production, low
productivity due to old age of tea
on tea industry, be it employment
tea production. or services. bushes and sluggish growth in
domestic demand for tea besides
The sector provides The turnover of Assam tea shortage of labour.
industry is 5,000 crores. Tea has
employment to evolved as a culture here and the In last ten years additional area
under tea increased by around 8 lakh
around 5 lakh state’s production is estimated at
480.2 million kgs (mkgs) last year. hectares globally, China increased 6
lakh hectares (equivalent to current
people directly and At least 2.7 lakh hectares of area are
tea are in India) while Kenya and
under tea production in Assam.
another 5 lakh on Vietnam combined brought one
The fiscal health of the industry lakh hectares under tea production.
seasonal basis which was afflicted by recession During the same period, India
is recovering but the industry is increased by 89,000 hectares.
The author is Guwahati based Principal correspondent of The Economic Times.

Analysts feel that this year tea fund (SPTF). The multi-crore about 1600 tea estates spread over
owing to favourable weather schemes announced couple of years 4 lakh hectares. It was estimated
condition country will be attain back is meant for replantation and that the programme would generate
crop of around 990 mkgs. rejuvenation of tea bushes. additional employment at the rate
of 22 million person days per year,
However despite being a tea The cost of production in India
providing gainful employment for
producer, per capita consumption remains the highest among major
dependents of permanent workers
is low in India. the per capita tea producing nations. Studies
consumption in UK is around 2.10 residing in the tea plantations.
undertaken by the Tea Board reveal
kgs, Russia 1.64 kgs, Australia 700 that 38 percent of all tea bushes According to the commerce
gms, Canada 720 gms, Egypt 970 have crossed the economic life of ministry, replantation would
gms, Pakistan 840 gms. 50 years and another 9 percent are increase from the present average
in the age-group of 40 to 50 years. of 1789 hectares per annum to
In India, about 800 million
kgs of tea are consumed annually Since the 1970s the Tea Board 11,359 hectares per annum and
and consumption is increasing has been implementing a scheme rejuvenation from the present
annually at the rate of 3.3 percent. of replantation and rejuvenation. average of 626 hectares per annum
Around 85 percent of households Despite providing subsidy at to 2814 hectares per annum.
in India consume tea. Interestingly 25 percent of the unit cost, the The cost of the programme is
tea consumption in tea bastions, cumulative area replanted has been funded by margin contributions
Assam and West Bengal is lesser a meager 63,000 hectares with an from growers, subsidy from the
than national average. average of 1789 hectares replanted Central Government, and long-
per annum. term loans. The estimated outlay
The per capita tea consumption
in India is around 750 grams while The reason for the low rate of for the 2006-07 and the duration
the per capita tea consumption in replanting has been the resource of the 11th Plan was fixed at Rs
Pakistan is around 1kg. In Western crunch faced by the growers 567 crores.
India the consumption of tea is quite because of the prolonged recession Tea industry wants increase in
satisfactory. Gujarat consumes in the industry and the revenue loss the subsidy under SPTF from 25 to
around 55 to 60 million kgs of tea during the gestation period. 40 percent. The industry also wants
annually at least 50 to 60 percent the government to incentivise the
of which comes from Assam and Under the SPTF the estimated
total area to be replanted and specialty tea and continue with the
rest is taken from other places of incentives offered to the orthodox
the country. rejuvenated over a 15-year period is
2.13 lakh hectares - replantation in tea during the 11th plan period.
The per capita consumption 1.71 lakh hectares and rejuvenation Indian Tea Association chairman
of tea in Gujarat is about 1.4 in 0.42 lakh hectares (rejuvenation C.S. Bedi during the consultation on
kgs in contrast to the national pruning is required in the hilly the approach to 12th five year plan
average of 750 gms. In terms of areas where replantation is not
noted, “Many tea companies have
per capita consumption, Gujarat is possible).
not yet been able to avail of the loan
the fourth highest after Chandigarh,
Of the total area to be replanted facility under the SPTF for various
Lakshadweep and Punjab.
and rejuvenated, 46 percent is in reasons like unattractive rate of
It has been a long pending Assam, 28 percent in West Bengal, interest, procedural complexities,
demand of the industry to unleash 22 percent in South India and the and adverse credit appraisal by the
sustained generic campaign rest in other tea growing areas. Agency etc.”
highlighting the health benefits of The total estimated cost is Rs.4761
The industry sought interest
tea to attract youths and increase crores, out of which Rs 4360 crores
subvention on the loan finances
domestic intake of tea. on replantation and Rs 401 crores
arranged on their own from banks/
on rejuvenation.
To address the critical problem of financial institutions. Bedi suggested
ageing tea bushes, the government The programme is targeted at an interest subsidy at the rate of 3
of India announced special purpose the organized sector comprising percent on the applicable rate of

interest on the funds borrowed in Assam has initiated a joint study The Inter-ministerial
by the Tea companies specifically with ITC University, Netherlands. Committee’s recommendations
for the purpose of the approved for sharing of the Welfare cost by
Initial study has established
activities under the SPTF. the Central and State Governments
perceptible changes in weather
and the Tea Estate has not been
Tea industry in India has parameters e.g. definite changes
in precipitation, temperature and implemented yet. The industry
witnessed revolutionary change in
carbon dioxide rise etc. have been argues that the expenses under the
last 10 years while production from
observed on long term basis in the head of Social Cost now amount to
organised sector had declined by
North Eastern India. Rs.8 per kg approximately, which
53 mkgs, the emerging force of
is a major reason for loss of the
Small tea growers (STGs) has The study has found that competitive edge of Indian tea in
added 160 mkgs. STGs propelled minimum temperature has risen by the international market.
production from 97 mkgs to 257 two degrees and rainfall has over
mkgs. the years followed an irregular Recently the industry is
pattern. The amount of rainfall in witnessing shortage of skilled
A survey by the Assam
the region is less by at least 200 labour. Mahatma Gandhi National
Government and Tea Board has
mm. Rural Employment Guarantee
put the numbers of STGs at around
Programme is attracting work force
68465 in 14 districts. Interestingly The need to focus on quality from tea garden areas.
insurgency infested areas of Upper tea is hotly debated in the
Assam are propelling the growth. industry as the world market is Besides the industry is facing
Major concentration of the STGs tilting towards quality tea. Assam reverse migration. North Eastern
is in tea-rich five Upper Assam is overwhelmingly a CTC tea Tea Association (NETA) Chairman
districts which accounts for 94 producer. Bidyananda Barkakoty informed
percent of STGs in 14 districts that around 300 families have left
Assam industry minister,
of the Brahmaputra valley. Small their jobs in a tea estate and gone
Pradyut Bordoloi observed there is
growers produce around 29 back to Telangana.
need to produce quality orthodox
percent of the total tea production
tea since in world tea market shares While new areas are coming
in the State.
of CTC, Orthodox and Green Tea under tea cultivation in Assam,
Considering the growth prospects are 41 percent, 45 percent and 14 tea is now brewing in several
in this segment, Government of percent respectively but Assam non traditional areas of Northeast
India has decided to set a separate produces only 8 percent orthodox India. While Assam and Tripura are
directorate of STGs. and 92 percent CTC teas. traditional tea growers, states like
The orthodox subsidy scheme of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal
With global warming affecting
11th plan has shown positive results Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and
the tea bushes and erratic rainfall
and as Bedi pointed out India is Sikkim are non traditional tea
pattern, the tea planters have
once again gaining market in the producing areas.
sought subsidy for coming up with
irrigation facility and dedicated export of Orthodox tea. Tripura produces 7.5 mkgs
subsidy scheme for rain water However the increasing social annually. The non traditional
harvesting. Last year tea production cost is something which the industry areas together produce 2.98 mkgs
took a beating following pest attack wants the government to share in annually. Arunachal Pradesh
((Helopeltis theivora). order to add to the competitiveness produces around 2.34 mkgs,
of the Indian tea in the world. Nagaland produces 0.20 mkgs
Assam lost crop to the tune of
per annum. Sikkim accounts for
15 million kg. In some gardens, The major pressing burden 0.16 mkgs, Manipur 0.11 mkgs,
crop loss was much more than the on the cost of producing tea in Meghalaya 0.10 mkgs and Mizoram
average, their loss was 20 percent the organized sector is the large produces 0.07 mkgs.
to 30 percent as compared to 2009. amount of expenses on account of
Tea Research Association’s (TRA) the archaic welfare provisions of In recent times the auction
Tocklai Experimental Station (TES) the Plantation Labour Act. system has moved from manual

to electronic system, however of India, “Export in 2011 registered water. They produce a blend of
Guwahati Tea auction Centre so far up to July continues to Oolong and green tea.
(GTAC) is fast losing trade to display the tragic saga of decline.
Kolkata tea auction centre. In The Singpho tea has made its
Against 107 mkg in 2010 till July,
2009, GTAC sold 138.5 million presence in USA, Thailand and UK
this year we could attain only about
kgs (mkgs) with average price markets. Nearly 400 kg has been
90 mkg. We should not take solace
realization of Rs 110.4 per kg. In in marginal improvement in unit exported to Canada, followed by
2010 the volume plummeted to value of export.” USA with 150 kg, Thailand with
130.36mkg with average price 120 kg, UK with 90 kg.
realization of Rs 113. It is debatable as to how the
industry is positioned today but The fundamentals of the tea
In 2010 Kolkata auction centre it heartening to note that several industry of Assam is strong.
auctioned 154.4 mkg with price entrepreneurs from different places However besides clamouring for
realization of Rs 130 per kg. of Assam are exporting organic tea government support it is high time
to International market. that the industry comes up with out
To i n c r e a s e d o m e s t i c of the box ideas. New ideas and
consumption, GTAC has announced Small tea growers with innovation will be a game changer
its foray into tea retailing. The indigenous methods of organic tea for the cup that cheers and will
auction centre plans to set up a production are taking to foreign help in removing the tag that the
chain of such retail outlets across markets. Several villagers in Assam industry has earned as “one of most
the state to sell quality tea and boast have indigenous methods of tea pampered sector”.
the sales of the local tea. preparation.
The industry has seen several
Similarly the first integrated tea Singpho community, which is
park of Northeast India will come ups and downs in past for both
credited for being pioneers in the economic and non economic factors
up in Chaygaon in the outskirts of discovery of tea have developed
Guwahati. Around Rs 23 Crore will but ever increasing competition
‘Tea Coin’. The product is sold will test sustainability prowess of
be invested in the project. The pre
under the brand name Phalap (tea this industry again and again and
-feasibility report of the tea park is
is known as phalap in Singpho only the fittest will survive in this
already prepared.
language). Two grams of tea are globalized order. q
According to D.P. Maheshwari, packed in coin shape, which can
former President, Tea Association be consumed by dissolving in hot (E-mail:[email protected])
Tea output up 3 per cent

India’s output of tea grew by almost 3 per cent to 111.06 million kg in September, while exports registered an
increase of about 9 per cent to 21.04 million kg during the month.
Tea production stood at 108.10 million kg in September, 2010, while exports stood at 19.34 million kg, according
to data by the Tea Board.
Tea production rose by 5 per cent to 729.66 million kg in the January-September period of the current year from
692.99 million kg in the corresponding period of the previous year.
Overseas shipments of the brew declined by 9 per cent to 130.28 million kg in January-September, 2011, from
143.48 million kg in the first nine months last year.
India’s tea output rose mainly on account of increased production in Assam, which accounts for more than 50
per cent of the country’s total output.
Tea production in Assam rose by 7 per cent to 66.96 million kg in September.
In North India, tea production stood at 93.06 million kg in September this year, as against 89.70 million kg in the
same month last year. In contrast, output in South India declined to 17.99 million kg in September, 2011, from
18.39 million kg in the corresponding period a year ago.

North east
OVERVIEW
Media and Development
Prasanta J Baruah
n a democratic development reporting – atleast
I country, a free press

is considered to be
the fourth pillar of
democracy, alongwith
the Legislature,
Executive and Judiciary. The Indian
Constitution stipulates that the four
till India became free – has been
that there was little development to
report. It was only after India went
through a succession of Five-Year
Plans that thought was at last given
for assessing the results of planning.
The Planning Commission itself
pillars of our democracy should had a house magazine: Yojana,
work hand in hand to usher in which was primarily devoted
justice, equality and development to development reporting. The
among all sections of our society. publications of economic dailies
On the whole, It is pertinent to note that for our like ‘The Economic Times’ and
democratic system to be a success, ‘Business Standard’ undoubtedly
Assam can feel the four major organs of our system gave a fillip to development
have to work closely to ensure reporting in recent times.
proud of having that the people enjoy the fruits of
Assam has a rich and eventful
democracy. Development reporting
history of journalism which started
a vibrant media in the media has been a part of the
with the publication of ‘Arunudoi’,
western journalistic scene for a
a news magazine by American
in the State today, long time. In India, it has acquired
Baptist missionaries in 1846.
prominence only in recent years. It
Published in Assamese primarily
equipped with was generally believed that Indian
with the objective of spreading the
newspapers were too pre-occupied
message of Christianity, the news
latest technological with political events to give much
thought to what was happening
magazine covered a wide range of
local issues, alongwith news from
advances to face in the economic field and that
political reporting took a substantial
across the world. Assam came under
British rule with the signing of the
the challenges of percentage of space in the daily
columns.
Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826, when
British forces ousted the Burmese,
modern mass Jan R Hakemulder, Fay AC De who earned notoriety, for their
Jonge and PP Singh in their book tyranny from the soil of Assam.
media ‘Professional Journalism’, has British rule however witnessed
pointed out that the problem with the introduction of the Bengali
The author is Executive Editor, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati.

language in the schools and courts the activities of the missionaries, the Other newspapers of the British
of Assam. The Assamese language Satradhikar (Head) of the Auniati period were ‘Asam News’, edited
was restored its rightful status only Satra (monastery) in the river island by Hem Chandra Baruah from
after a long and arduous struggle in of Majuli, The seat of Vaishnavite Guwahati and ‘Asam Bonti’, edited
1869. Newspapers and magazines religion and culture in Assam, by Padmanath Gohain Baruah from
published during British rule dealt started the ‘Asam Bilashini’, in 1871 Tezpur.
with local issues and social ills by bringing a printing press all the
like opium addiction, alcoholism, way from Kolkata. The ‘Arunudoi’ According to Prafulla Chandra
casteism, etc. continued publication till 1880. It Barua, former editor of the Assamese
was a popular news magazine with daily ‘Dainik Asam’ and author of
The discovery of tea in Assam a circulation of over 700 during the book, ‘Asomor Batori Kakat:
and the Anglo-China war of 1833 that period. The ‘Asam Bilashini’, Eti Ruprekha’, the media in Assam
which resulted in disruption of however stopped publication after in the pre-independence period was
Chinese tea supply to England a few years. It was revived by mostly engaged with language and
witnessed global investment in Krishna Kanta Bhattacharyya in literature, a hangover of the days
remote Assam in the tea sector 1913 from Jorhat with permission when the Assamese people had
which gradually destroyed the from the Auniati Satra satradhikar. to struggle for restoration of the
feudal institutions and economy of The paper had to face a lot of Assamese language as the language
the Ahom rulers of the past and led harassment form the British rulers of the courts and schools. A major
to the growth of capitalist economy. for its anti-establishment outlook issue of the period was the issue
Alakesh Baruah in his book “India’s and had to close down. of migration of people from East
North East: Development Issues Bengal to Assam in large numbers.
in a Historical perspective”, says A successful newspaper of An analysis of this period will
that the growth of the tea industry the British period in Assam was reveal that huge British investments
necessarily led to the growth of ‘The Times of Assam’ (1895), in the tea, oil and coal sectors
communication and infrastructure edited by Radhanath Changkakati in Assam completely changed
network. Building of roads and from Dibrugarh, which was at the socio-economic scenario in
bridges were taken up. Navigation that time the hub of economic Assam. The influx of labour to
by the Brahmaputra River was activities in Assam. A pro-British work in the tea gardens and land
introduced by Assam Company by a paper, ‘The Times’ was patronized hungry East Bengal migrants who
steamer service from 1841. Railway by the government, planters were encouraged by the British
lines were laid from Dibrugarh and the business class through rulers to settle in the wasteland
to Ledo by 1882 by the Assam advertisements which ensured its areas created serious demographic
Railways and Trading Company economic viability. This newspaper changes which posed threat to the
with the aim of joining the remote continued publication till 1947 and indigenous people. These concerns
tea gardens to the steamer service. had the distinction of completing 50 were adequately reflected in the
glorious years of publication. The pages of the media of that period.
According to Baruah, the whole ‘Advocate of Assam’ was another
economy of Assam during that weekly English paper published An important reason behind the
period revolved around the tea from Guwahati. absence of adequate development
industry, though coal and the oil reporting in the media of the period
industry sprang side by side. The With the freedom movement in may be due to the fact that the
first refinery in Asia, the Digboi the country gathering momentum in Assamese people were not greatly
refinery was commissioned in 1901. 1920s, the publication of the weekly involved in the economic activities
By 1871, about Rs 18.6 million had ‘Asomiya’, from Dibrugarh, by the of the time. Successful Assamese
been invested in the tea industry. family of cultural icon Jyotiprasad businessmen were so few that they
The total investment by 1881 had Agarwalla was a significant could be counted on one’s finger
touched Rs 63.8 million. Investment development. It was considered to tips. Most Assamese people did
from 1881-1901 was about Rs 200 be a mouthpiece of the Congress not have the necessary capital to
million with an average of Rs 10 and was critical of the functioning venture into independent business
of the British government of the activities. Moreover, the people
million invested annually. It was day. Prominent Congress leaders
one of the highest investments in a had to get used to the new business
like Dev Kanta Barooah and Omeo
region in British India. The advent Kumar Das edited the paper. culture the British rulers brought in.
of British rule in Assam and the The social milieu also looked down
efforts of the Baptist missionaries The first Assamese daily upon risky business adventures. An
to spread Christianity through the newspaper, ‘Dainik Batori’, was Assamese father would rather give
first Assamese news magazine published from Jorhat in 1935 by his daughter to a man working as a
‘Arunudoi’ (1846), was viewed with Siva Prasad Barooah, a prominent government peon than to a fledgling
misgiving by the local Vaishnavite Assamese tea planter. Its emphasis businessman. This diversion of
Hindu leaders. In a bid to counter was more on language and literature. the people’s attention from the

exploitive economic activities to The media in Assam in the social upheaval witnessed during
the social issues also suited the post-independence period reflected that turbulent period resulted in
interest of the British rulers. the people’s yearning for change. a massive growth of newspaper
The country’s freedom in 1947 Freed from the shackles of British readers cutting across all sections
and the accompanying partition imperialism which exploited the of the society in the state.
brought new problems to the people natural resources of the state
without bringing any tangible The Assam movement came
of Assam. The traditional economic to an end with the signing of
benefits to the people, the media
routes through East Bengal (now highlighted demands of the people The Assam Accord in 1985. The
Bangladesh) were closed down, like construction of the first bridge post-Accord period has seen an
even as a fresh wave of Hindu over the river Brahmaputra at unprecedented media boom in
Bengali refugees made their way to Guwahati to fast track the road Assam. Today, the state has about
the state. This led to revival of the and rail communication connecting 15 daily newspapers in different
old language rivalry between the Assam with mainland India. languages like Assamese, English,
Assamese and Bengali languages Demand for an oil refinery in Hindi and Bengali, besides, six
resulting in the language riots of the state to process the huge oil private TV channels beaming the
the sixties. Independence, however, resources in the state took the news 24-hours a day. The intense
ushered in a new trend of aggressive form of a people’s movement in competition in the Assamese media
journalism in the media in Assam. view of the Central Government’s has resulted in the newspapers
In 1939, even as the Second World reluctance to accede to the state’s and TV channels making all
War was breaking out in Europe, a demand citing security threat from efforts to bring out stories on
young business entrepreneur Radha China. An analysis of the role of corruption, anomalies, exploitation,
Govinda Baruah started a new the media vis-à-vis development discrimination etc. to attract the
English weekly called ‘The Assam during this period would reveal readers and viewers. Reporters and
Tribune’ from Dibrugarh. With the that the media played a positive photographers in mobile TV vans of
established ‘The Times of Assam’ role to highlight the development these channels are today a common
still around, many considered initiative of the government, which sight in the roads of Guwahati.
Baruah’s initiative as an ill-advised in the absence of substantial private Improvement in their network has
move. However, Baruah went investment had to play a pivotal today helped them to reach out to
ahead with a professional approach catalytic role. The media of the all happening events in the state.
bringing in senior journalist day supplemented the efforts of Coverage of news in the state has
Lakshminath Phukan, then working the government by highlighting improved to a large extent in the
with ‘The Statesman’ in Kolkata as the problems and grievances of the last two decades. This has also
the founding editor of the paper. people. increased the media coverage of the
There was no looking back for The media of the time played a development scenario in the state.
Baruah. In 1946, he shifted the sober, restrained role, though at times Close monitoring of developmental
Tribune establishment to Guwahati emotions took precedence. Reports projects and schemes by the media
and started ‘The Assam Tribune’ as about corruption and irregularities in many cases have resulted in
the first English daily newspaper of in execution of government projects checking corruption and anomalies.
the north-eastern region. and schemes were taken seriously However, most newspapers and
‘The Assam Tribune’ soon by the government and in many channels are not equipped with
became the mouthpiece of Assam cases errant officers were punished. adequate manpower and resources
reflecting the hope and aspirations Social values of the time were so to do justice to their work. There
of the people. It has today completed strong that a report in the media are also allegations against a section
73 years of publication, becoming a about corruption was considered of the media of adopting unethical
part of the lives of the people. RG to be a matter of great shame practices.
Baruah launched an Assamese daily and humiliation leading to social
ostracism. On the whole, Assam can feel
‘Dainik Asam’ and weekly ‘Asam proud of having a vibrant media in
Bani’ in the sixties, to establish The six-year-long Assam the State today, equipped with latest
the Tribune group as a respected movement (1979-85) against illegal technological advances to face the
publishing house of the state. foreigners was a turning point in challenges of modern mass media.
In 1972, the family of freedom the media world of the state. It saw Greater commitment to the interest
fighter, Congressman and former the growth of the media industry of the society and integrity and hard
Assam minister Debeswar Sarma with the launch of newspapers work should usher in the golden
started the ‘Dainik Janambhumi’ an like ‘The Sentinel’ (1983) and the era of the media in Assam in the
Assamese daily, from Jorhat which Asomiya Pratidin’ (1993) among coming days. q
had a good circulation in the upper others. It also witnessed the growth
Assam areas. of investigative journalism. The (E-mail :[email protected])

north east
appraisal
Millennium Development Goals: Way so far
Subhashree Sanyal
ssam as a s tate terms of the Human Development
A has occupied an
important position
in India’s political
map. According to
the Census 2001, Assam has a
total population of 26,638,407,
Index value, among the 15 States
compared and at the 26th place
among the 32 States compared in
terms of the Human Development
Index. The region continues to
be marked by low agricultural
constituting 2.59 percent of India’s productivity, poor infrastructure,
total population and 68.24 percent tenuous communications and nascent
of the entire Northeast. Ranked 14th levels of industrial activity.
Focusing on public in terms of total population in India,
Looking at Assam from the
the State has a population density of
private partnership 340 (persons per square kilometre).
perspectives of Millennium
Development Goals would help
There are 16 Scheduled Castes and
and collaboration 23 Scheduled Tribes constituting
analyze where Assam stands in
India’s development map and the
with civil society 7.40 and 12.82 percent respectively
of the State’s population. Bodos
current overall status of progress
of the state.
will boost Assam’s are the largest plains tribes in the
Eradication of extreme poverty
state. The other tribes include
effort towards the Karbis, Dimasas, and Rabhas and hunger
among others. Assam has an extremely high
reaching the The economy of Assam is proportion of its population living
overwhelmingly agricultural, in poverty. Despite a decline in the
Millennium providing employment to more proportion, more than a third of its
than half of the state’s working class. people are below the poverty line.
Commitments by Assam produces nearly half of the The percentage of poor in Assam is
country's total Tea. The National the highest among the seven States
2015 Human Development Report 2001 of the North East. According to
places Assam at the 14th place in the Planning Commission Report,
The author is Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work, Assam University, Silchar, Assam.

There is a rural-urban divide; two the state. Different education of women would help bridging
out of five people in rural areas are schemes and programmes, post- this gap.
likely to be under the poverty line, matric scholarships and also rural
Reduce Child Mortality
while in urban Assam, the incidence development initiatives towards
is less than one in ten. Rural poverty education have been implemented Health indicators in Assam
is much higher (40.04 percent of to fill in the existing gap in reveal inequity- between districts,
population in 1999-2000) than accessibility, infrastructure and and between income and other
urban poverty (7.47 percent of also quality of education in the groupings. There is a rural-urban
persons), and the incidence of rural state. Proper implementation and divide, and a gender gap. Through
poverty is higher than the all India monitoring of these schemes can the 1990s there was a secular
figure of 27.09 percent. The key to help in reaching the education goals decline in the Infant Mortality
poverty reduction therefore lies in and targets of the state. Rate in Assam from 81 per 1000
the growth of the rural economy live births (1991) to 76 per 1000
Promote Gender Equity and
of Assam. The state can focus on live births by the end of the decade
empowerment
development of rural economy (1999). The IMR for urban Assam
Assam ranks 29 out of 32 in the is substantially lower than the all
by promoting local products and
Gender Disparity Index. There is India average (36 per 1,000 as
micro-finance and other economic
generation projects across the significant disparity in education, against 44 per 1000 for India);
employment and health sectors in while in rural Assam the IMR is
state. higher than that for rural India
terms of gender. Further the tribes
Achieve Universal Primary in Assam are patriarchal unlike (79 per 1000 against 75 per 1,000
Education Meghalaya which is matrilineal. for India) in 1999. The IMR is
The position of women in Assam dependent on many factors. These
NFHS survey indicates that 72 is not different from that of women include the health status of women,
percent of the population in the in other regions of the country. In antenatal and postnatal medical care,
6-17 age groups is attending school fact in some respects, women in access to medical facilities, and the
in Assam. Assam’s achievements in Assam are more disadvantaged. availability of professional medical
literacy places it in the mid range, Using the equally distributed practitioners. Ignorance and social
with a literacy rate of 64.28 percent, indices for income, health and factors also play an important role.
in 2001, from 52.89 percent in education, the GDI for Assam Early marriage and the preference
1991. There is large gender gap in 2001 is estimated to be 0.537. for male children are contributory
N C Hills has the first rank in factors. In Assam, underdeveloped
in the literacy rate for men being
the GDI, while its rank in the infrastructure is another reason for
as much as 71.93 percent and for
HDI is 11. It is followed by high IMRs. This refers not just to
women it was more than 15 percent
Morigaon, Jorhat, Kamrup and facilities for established medical
lower, at 56.03 percent. There is care, but also the inadequacy of
a large urban- rural gap as well. Dibrugarh. Gender inequity is
most visible in the health sphere good, all weather transportation
Urban literacy is as high as 89.88
and reflected in adverse sex ratios, and communications. The inability
percent for males and 81.03 percent to move basic medicines easily,
higher mortality rates and a higher
for females. The figures for rural especially at certain times of the
incidence of morbidity. Being
areas are more than 20 percent less, patriarchal women also get lesser year, and the frequent occurrence
at 69.02 percent for males and 52.25 share of their patriarchal property. of natural calamities such as floods,
percent for females. The problem of If we look at various development are impediments to better health
school dropouts in Assam relative indicators, women face problems service provisioning.
to other Indian States has also of illiteracy, malnutrition, early
been brought out sharply in the Improve Maternal Mortality
marriage and child birth. Thus
Economic Survey 2000-01. Assam gender related discrimination According to the records the
is known for its quest for higher is evident through various Maternal Mortality Rate of the
education. Assam presently has two indicators which are impacting the state is 390 in [2007-09] compared
Central Universities and a number holistic development of the state. to 480 in [2004-06]. The major
of state and open universities Promoting of women’s rights causes of maternal death are septic
facilitating higher education across and ensuring equal participation abortion and eclampsia and this

is mainly noticed among referral land does not allow sustainable region. Assam being the gateway
patients mainly from lower Assam livelihood alternatives. According to the North East has always
and parts of Meghalaya. Majority to Environment Sustainability enjoyed a prominent position.
of studies indicate that early effects Index, Assam stands 60 on ESI Development of infrastructure,
of malnutrition, poverty and neglect scale. Assam is rich in natural roads, easy communication
contribute to high MMR. Poor resources, minerals, forests and services, healthcare, sanitation
nutrition also leads to anemia among water and has vast tracts of fertile and ensuring safe drinking water
pregnant woman, ultimately leading land. It is primarily an agrarian is the need of the hour. The state
to high mortality rates during the economy, with 74 percent of its with the partnership of Civil
reproductive age. Early marriage, population engaged in agriculture Society Organizations and other
cohabitation and childbearing and allied activities. Cereals like development authorities like
contribute to higher morbidity paddy, wheat and plantation crops DoNER and NEC can bring about
and mortality rates. Inadequate like tea are grown extensively. global partnership and progress in
utilization of available medical Amongst mineral resources, oil the state.
infrastructure is an extremely takes the top place. Oil was first
important causal factor, and one Conclusion
struck more than one hundred years
of the major challenges that needs ago and the oil well of Digboi and Assam as a state is blessed with
to be addressed by the healthcare other areas is a major source of fuel a lot of natural resources. The
system. for not only the North-East but for state is lagging behind in terms
Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and the country as a whole. development and infrastructure
other diseases primarily. Though the government
The state of Assam has a rich
is focusing on development of
HIV/AIDS is on the rise in forest cover encompassing nearly a
North Eastern Region there is
Assam. As per latest figures quarter of its land area. Roughly half
a special need to explore need
released by the Assam State AIDS of the forests are reserved. Blessed
based intervention in the state.
Control Society, there are 4,251 with plentiful rainfall, the forests
All government programmes and
people living with HIV, the virus are a reserve of such commercially
policies implemented in Assam
that causes AIDS. The jump in useful produce like timber, bamboo,
often lack fruitful implementation
the number of people infected stone, cane, etc. Bamboo is the
due to infrastructural constraints
best natural engineering material
with the virus has increased from and smooth fund flow. Further the
364 in 2001 to 4,251 in April on this planet. One of Government
government can look into the intra-
this year. Malaria has been, and of Assam’s objective is to promote
state development disparities.
continues to be, a major problem. bamboo as a substitute for wood,
The development process of
It is a disease that thrives in the to make it the timber of the 21st
Brahmaputra Valley region is
terrain and climatic conditions of century.
speeding up at large with very
the State. The state government Develop a global partnership for little for the lower Assam valleys
has been using the Anti Malarial development like Barak. This developmental
Programme to combat malaria and gap needs to be bridged which can
provide preventive mechanisms for Assam as a state has a lot be solely done through political
the same. Despite these measures, of disparity in development of efforts. Government can also
the incidence of malaria continues the regions, while the northern focus on local development of
to be high. The containment of part of Assam is pacing towards backward regions by promoting
malaria should continue to receive development inspite of security special production and marketing
the highest attention of the health disturbances; the lower part of of products typical to the region.
care system. Assam is still gaping under serious Focusing on public private
under-development. Districts like partnership and collaboration
Ensure Environment
Cachar seems to be suffering with civil society will boost
Sustainability
from stagnancy due to prolonged Assam’s effort towards reaching
Assam is a flood prone state. periods of lack of infrastructure the Millennium Commitments by
Majority of the times in a year the and other developmental 2015. q
state is affected by floods along with resources. There is a need to bring
earthquakes. The topography of the holistic development across the (E-mail : [email protected])

North east
introspection
The Lost Revolution
I K Barthakur
r . D ass h a d them a twinge of regret for having
M volunteered his
plot of land for the
demonstration. He
was a needy small
farmer but his ideas
looked ahead. When the village was
informed about the new seeds, which
missed such an opportunity. As they
watched the progress appreciatively,
they decided to borrow or buy from
him some seeds of the new variety
for the next year.
The lesson was perfect. What
gave three times the traditional was more, Mr. Dass was going to
yield and would mature in early reap not only a bumper crop, but
October instead of December, he would do so much earlier than
he had immediately seized the they would harvest their-traditional
opportunity while the timorous 'Sali' (kharif) paddy. Most of them
The new high farmers of the village, had not. His had already exhausted their stock
secret hope was to sow another crop of rice and were eking out a daily
yielding paddy, of mustard, potatoes, vegetables, quota to last them until the harvest
ripened in about and wheat, after harvesting the of their paddy. Since most of the
paddy crop in the month of October, farmers had no surpluses to sell,
a hundred days. It which was not otherwise possible
because the traditional paddy crop
they had no cash to buy rice from
the open market.
formed its milk in did not truly vacate the land until
H o w e v e r, M r. D a s s w a s
December-January.
the glumes almost Everyone, off and on, came
expecting to harvest his paddy
crop in early autumn well in time
two months earlier to see the promise in the lush to sow a second crop, while, the
greenness of his little field. His others, would still be waiting for
than the traditional paddy had thrown up more than their paddy to mature. Secretly they
thirty tillers each paddy hill as felt jealous as well as sorry.
varieties against nine or ten of their own
traditional varieties. The abundant Mr. Dass, his wife and their four
flowering of the new paddy variety children, spent most of their time
plants and that too as early as in sitting near the field, cherishing their
the month of August, brought to hopes and dreaming of prosperity.
The authors is Member, North Eastern Council.

When the crop became ready, it He bicycled off early, took up others, had also volunteered for
was harvested with much fanfare. a strategic position and patiently the experiment and faced similar
The Extesion Officer [EO] along awaited the arrival of the Chief problems. Not all were so lucky
with the Village Level Worker Minister. about the compensation.
[VLW] and of-course the whole
village had assembled to see the The long convoy of cars and Based on similar experiences,
results. jeeps arrived about two hours late. the results began to pour in from
He was able to identify the man other districts. "The short duration
However, the drama took an who was profusely garlanded, varieties of paddy produce 'patan'
unexpected turn. There was no rice to be the VIP. He had seen his and are thus unsuitable for Assam
inside the 'bumper' glumes. "Patan, photograph in the local newspaper, conditions". No one troubled to
patan, patan" (empty), was the which the schoolteacher and village investigate, "What produced 'patan'
verdict. The entire village scoffed headman always read. In the melee and, Why?"
at the failure of the experiment. that followed the arrival of the
Their earlier jealousy intensified VIPs, he succeeded in attracting What had really happened was
their mirth. the Chief Minister's attention. He this: The high yielding 'wonder
quickly blurted out his rehearsed seeds' were creating a 'green
Mr. Dass could not believe it. He revolution' throughout the country
was crestfallen. He felt humiliated outburst. His land holding was very
small. He was a poor farmer. He under the aegis of the Five Year
and cheated. The high hopes and Plans. Samples had reached all the
had put his land under new seeds
dreams of all these months had
as suggested by the Village Level States, including Assam, for field
been shattered into shame. He and trials. The States distributed them
his family had become the laughing Worker and, the results had been
disastrous. He had lost his entire to the districts. The districts divided
stock of the entire village. them among administrative sub-
crop. He produced the bagful of
That night, no food was cooked 'patan' paddy as evidence. divisions, and they, in turn, among
in their home. Everyone, including all the development blocks. The
his wife and three children, slept The Chief Minister was kind development blocks distributed
hungry. He had gone to the forest and sympathetic. He looked round them through various extension
on the pretext of easing himself, and and told the District Collector officers, to the VLWs, each of whom
had wept tears of bitterness at his (DC) standing behind him to look had a number of villages under his
lost hope. He took a decision. after the interests of the poor 'charge'. In their enthusiasm to
man. The DC promptly passed share and show-off the wonder
He would expose the folly on the directions to the Sadaer seeds, they parceled them out into
of the agricultural experts who Sub-Divisional Officer (SDo) who small village demonstration plots,
had deprived him of his rice and was standing conveniently nearby. one each in their charge. The tiny
brought ridicule upon him. The SDO efficiently wrote down demonstration plots came to be
a message on a slip of paper and dotted all over the State. This was
He remembered that the Chief gave a chit to Mr. Dass, saying, a great example of equality in
Minister of the State was visiting "Come tomorrow, meet so and so, sharing!
the District Headquarters about 16 and give him this paper. He will go
kilometres away from his village. with you and settle the matter in The plants grew beautifully. Full
He carefully filled a gunny-bag your favour." fertilizer support was provided in
with the 'patan' paddy, borrowed a the mini-kits. The dark green stands
bicycle from his brother-in-law, and Finally, Mr. Dass received of the paddy had tillered profusely
took off to tell his pathetic story. compensation equal to the value in the tiny-experimental plots.
of a traditional harvest he would These had stood out in healthy
He could not meet the Chief have made from his piece of land, contrast and promise, among the
Minister at the Circuit House, had he not volunteered for the traditional fields that surrounded
because it was full of senior officers, experiment and sown the seeds of them. They began flowering and
public leaders and sentries barred the high yielding varieties [HYV] forming milk much earlier than the
his entry. However, he learnt that of paddy. common variety, popularly known
in the afternoon the Chief Minister as the traditional varieties of Sali
would be visiting the lift-irrigation But many more, Dasses, paddy, in Assam.
project only five kilometres away Phukans, Bhuyans, Baruas, Boros,
and for a meeting with the local Basumataris, Saikias, Kalitas, The new high yielding paddy,
farmers. He was surely a farmer Kakotis, Kotokis, Kacharis, Neogs, ripened in about a hundred days.
and had a real problem. Brahmas, Bordolois, Lalungs and It formed its milk in the glumes

almost two months earlier than clouds'. They selected convenient of so many progressive farmers
the traditional varieties that take, perches on the paddy stalks and who had trusted, and toiled for a
from seed to seed, about 150-165 with their little beaks deftly cracked new found hope, was due to the
days to mature, and the traditional the paddy pods open, and, drank organisers who had begun so well,
varieties of paddy were harvested as the milk and they left the glumes way back in those fateful mid-
late as December to early January. in place, refilled with empty air, so sixties.
Thereafter, about two million that outwardly everything appeared
normal. By the time people arrived Erroneously, they had concluded,
hectares (about twenty lakh) vast
and raised alarms to scare them merely by compiling the information
paddy lands remained vacant
away, they themselves were ready communicated to them, that the
until July-August. However, the
to leave for a satiated rest. new varieties were, by themselves,
harvested paddy stalks, host insects
responsible for producing 'patans'
and pests in their stubs. During They were followed by the [empty glumes] and, therefore,
the long vacancy of the fields, waves of 'Bota Sorai', another type unsuitable for Assam.
they multiply into hungry new of small bird. These swarmed into
generations waiting, ravenously for the experimental fields a few days This, therefore, slammed the
the rich rice milk, from the ripening later because they relish doughy doors shut on the 'green revolution'
of the next paddy crop. or semi-solid rice. They too could and the economic prosperity of
do a lot of damage by breaking the the entire North Eastern Region.
When the hungry pests and The price was heavy indeed, and
insects had smelt the paddy milk rice paddy-pods with their beaks.
However, this time they went had paid by the State, its people
in the trial plots of the new early- and the country as a whole. The
maturing varieties, they had away disappointed because the
loss ran into millions of tonnes of
converged flying, from all directions glumes had already been sucked
additional food grains each year
hopping, jumping, crawling and empty, firstly by the 'Gandhai Pukh'
[Stinkbug] and then by the 'Tokora that, were never produced for
creeping, from all directions to the more the four decades, as well as
experimental fields. The "Gandhai Sorai'.
the wide-ranging consequences,
Pukh" (stinkbug) which came The small experimental fields of including of agricultural and
flying, led the attack with the little early-maturing paddy thus received industrial shortages, and over all
sucking pipe of his proboscis. He a concentrated onslaught from growth of the States that continue
and his tribe of invaders from far all these swarms. They came, to remain tardy . No wonder, Assam
and wide, sucking milk out of the mobilising in strength from long has slid backwards and into greater
paddies, and left pink marks to tell distances, because none of the and greater dependence, even for
the tale. These, happily sucked other fields in their purview had its daily plate of rice, from sources
away the grain leaving behind yet begun to exude the inviting far away. Financial burdens on
only tiny pink marks. The little aroma of the ripening paddy. transport subsidies mounted.
creatures also faced competition They all converged on to the few
from thousands of little birds. isolated experimental plots instead The harvest of economic progress
of distributing themselves, as in and in food security continued to
We read much in appreciation of be consumed, ruthlessly by the
the 'Tokora Sorai' (the weaver birds) normal years, over the miles and
miles of traditional paddy fields. utter lack of vision in decision-
who weave lovely long nests with making, rather than by the birds,
a number of doors and rooms that If larger areas were put under pests and insects that ravaged the
are illuminated with glow-worms the experiment, it would have been ripening grains of the farmers like
stuck into the weave. They furnish possible to protect them, to some Mr. Dass.
these rooms with soft comfortable extent.
mattresses made of grass fluff and N o w, h o w t o r e g a i n t h e
soft feathers. Despite these lovely However, the real villains confidence of the people, because
homes for nesting, they seem to who shut the doors to the 'green of the 'patan', 'if' and 'when' it is
prefer to sleep in the open, perched revolution' and prosperity and who tried again?
on nearby trees or electric wires. went undetected and remained free,
were not the insects and the birds When reason has seen the reality
When the scent of ripening who through the bounty of Nature, and shown the path to progress, let
paddy milk of the early maturing and on human folly, relished their us hear its voice - Even now!
varieties invited them to an early field day among tearly maturing Must we wait for a chorus! q
dawn feast, their swarms had experimenters. The grand folly that
descended on the fields 'like dark foiled all the plans and the efforts (E-mail : [email protected])

J&K Window
Floriculture in Kashmir
E
mphasizing on improving quality of fruits
for increasing market share, the Jammu &
Kashmir government has taken a big initiative
including setting up of new Fruit Mandies and cold
storage facilities, to promote horticulture industry in
the state.
The State has vast potential in horticulture sector,
and there is need to improve the quality of fruits to tap
it fully and increase marketability.
The state is producing 22.50 MT fruit annually and
this year the State's fruit export is expected to touch 4000 MTs. For the first time fruits of the State have
been taken to Mandies of Himachal Pradesh.
Apart from establishing new fruit mandies, the government has renovated existing ones to facilitate
the trade of fruit growers. About Rs 6 crores is being spent on introducing drip irrigation system while
Rs 2 crore have been released during current fiscal. The Horticulture department has achieved a lot during
the past 3 years, as the floriculture sector is emerging as a new profitable commercial activity in the State.
The Government is providing adequate subsidy on purchase of equipment and machinery to the growers to
apply new technologies. q
hydroelectric projects in Kashmir
S
hifting its focus from mega ventures, the Jammu and Kashmir government will soon be
constructing 10 small hydroelectric projects to generate and supply power faster to despairing
consumers, without much transmission and distribution losses. The projects will be built on
the tributaries of major rivers like the Chenab, Jhelum and the Ravi. They range from a capacity of 6
MW to 45 MW, with a total strength of 172 MW and they will tap all the necessary power generating
resources in Jammu and Kashmir. These projects are located in Ramban, Reasi, Kathua and Baramulla
districts.
A project on the Bichlari nullah, a tributary of the Chenab in Ramban of Jammu region and it would
have the capacity to generate 45 MW of electricity. Another one on a tributary of the same river would be
set up at Ansl in Reasi, with 40 MW capacity. The smallest of these projects, with 6 MW capacity, will be
set up on the Hapthkhai nullah in Boniyar town of Baramulla district of north Kashmir. Other projects with
varying capacities of 7 MW to 27 MW would be set up on tributaries and nullahs in Poonch, Ganderbal and
Baramulla districts.
The state has an estimated capacity of generating 18,000 MW of power from its rivers, but it has not
been able to generate more than one tenth of this. It gets only 12 percent of power from the hydro projects
constructed by the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited (NHPC). The state owns only one
mega project at Baglihar of 450 MW capacity while the rest like Salal, Dul Hasti and Uri are owned by
NHPC. q

North eAst
prospects
Road to Wacha: The easiest route to

China via Arunachal Pradesh
Mrinal Talukdar
ndia’s easiest It may be too early to dream of
I land access to China

and that too not over
icy mountainous
Himalaya, is slowly
becoming a reality as the Indian
army and the Chinese army are
an immigration point and then drive
in to the most beautiful region of
China through a beautiful highway,
but the fact is that it is not an
impossibility as the geographical
terrain is so surprisingly easy and
cozying up at Wacha in the Indo- smooth with both sides having
China border in Arunachal Pradesh, good roads all the way up to the
which is the smoothest gateway to border.
People on both China from India.
Unlike all other existing cross
sides of the When Brigadier Manjeet Mehta border facilities like Nathula in
a couple of years back, welcomed
border will the Chinese delegation leader
Sikkim or Bumla in Tawang,
Wacha is not difficult to reach and
benefit as Senior Colonel Yang Ping Jiang
to a small house in Wacha, history
is relatively at a very low height.
It is situated in the North Eastern
and when was made and the dream of driving
most tip of India and obviously
into China is slowly turning into
the trade reality.
the great Himalayan range is at its
lowest height at that point.
route is This is the sleepy road, which
One can drive from Tinsukia,
can open up the North East India
fully to China and beyond. Most the broad gauge railway head with
importantly it does not need any a daily Rajdhani connection to
opened major infrastructure, because the New Delhi, to Wacha in a single
road from both sides very well day crossing around 300 kilometres
exists and barely used. along the Lohit valley.
The author is an independent journalist based in Guwahati. He was bureau Chief, UNI, North East Region.

“On the occasion of the third Chinese side to Wacha across the most of which are four lane. The
formal Border Personnel Meeting Line of Actual Control (LAC) to route has been a traditional one
at Wacha along the traditional honour the invitation extended and till 1960 it was quite active
Rima - Tezu route, our border by the Indian counterparts to using the Lohit river as mode of
troops of Lohit Valley Sector, foster the established peace and transport.
invited their Chinese counterparts tranquility amongst the two great
ancient Nations” said Brigadier As the Indo-China cooperation
to further the bilateral relations, increases despite the itching over
mutual trust and cooperation at Manjeet Mehta.
Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh, the
Wacha, in the Anjaw district of In fact, although the Chinese are Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs)
Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese quite secretive about their area, but along the entire Indo - China border
officers and soldiers attired in it is a well known fact that they have stretching across thousands of
full regalia marched almost three very good all weather roads from kilometeres are steadily increasing
kilometres from Damai on the Rima to the interiors of China and and fast becoming a regular feature,
From the archives

The area during 1962 Indo-China war
The Line of Communications was tenuous in the extreme. Tezu in the Brahmaputra Valley was 70-km from
the railhead in Assam, and featured an airfield of sorts. The road from the railhead to Tezu was unable to take
any significant traffic, so Tezu was maintained by air.
From Tezu to Walong was a 160-km, 14-day foot-track journey. Though Walong had an airstrip, operations
could take place only between daybreak and 1000 hours, after which high winds made the airstrip unusable;
worse, only the Canadian De Havilland Otter STOL, with a payload of 6 men or about half-ton cargo, could
use the airstrip.
Two tracks, one on each side of the Lohit, ran from Walong to Kibithu. The western track was accessible with
difficulty to porters carrying heavy back-pack loads, but was inaccessible to pack animals. As an approximation,
one mule can carry as much as 5 porters. This track passed over a series of steep climbs, which formed the
“Ladders”.
The eastern track, was not even portable, and was used by locals to travel between 4 hamlets on the east bank
of the river. This explains why no troops were located to the east of the Lohit, and why all action took place
to the west of the River.
The track between Walong and Kibithu ran about 18-20 km, possibly less; the road now available runs 25 km.
From Kibithu to Dichang today is 5 km by road, and was perhaps 3 km along the 1962 track.
Ironically, the west bank track seems to have been constructed on the initiative of a Chinese general. Around
the turn of the century he used local forced labour to make the “road” between Rima, the Tibetan village across
the McMahon Line, which represented the terminus of the Chinese road head. After reaching Walong he was
forced to turn back, abandoning the project. The unofficial 1962 War history does not explain what stopped
the general. We may guess, however, that the completely desolate, heavily forested terrain was the cause.
At that time there could hardly have been more than 1000 inhabitants of the entire region between Rima and
Walong – if that; and after Walong was more desolation. For China there would have existed no economic,
administrative, or military reason to cross the McMahon Line. Some trade undoubtedly took place between
Rima and Tezu: the traders of yore were extraordinarily hardy souls, but it could not have been of any
significance.

especially in the areas of Chushul, for social interaction amongst height. The last 30 kilometres from
Nathula, Bumla and now near all ranks of both the Armies Walong to Kibithu is a little steep
Wacha, to promote mutual faith and who attended the BPM. The but that is nothing in comparison
understanding. “These interactions Chinese delegation was treated to the great height and passes of
between the Indian and Chinese to a large spread of traditional Bumla or Nathula.
Armies started initially with Flag Indian delicacies. The event
Meetings and later transformed Kibithu could turn into a major
culminated with an exchange
into BPMs and have since become international trading hub due to
of gifts and joint photo session
a regular event. The recently its natural resources and potential
between the delegation members.
concluded BPM near Wacha is for trade. This BPM is a positive
Finally, the delegates parted with
seen as a giant step forward towards
a commitment towards stronger step towards affirming the mutual
contributing significantly in further commitment of strengthening
bilateral ties.
cementing the bonds of mutual relations in the ongoing 'Year
trust, confidence and friendship In fact the first formal Border of Friendship' between the two
between the two countries” the Personnel meeting (BPM), along Nations.
Brigadier said. the traditional Rima – Tezu trade
route was held on November 2006, People on both sides of the border
The BPM near Wacha is being will benefit as and when the trade
seen as an important step in the at Wacha, in Kibithu sector on
the Indian side at Line of Actual route is fully opened. Anjaw with
growing Indo - Chinese relations.
Control. The second meeting was its tremendous trade potential can
Wacha is located on the traditional
age-old trade route between the held on September 2008, across the trade its horticultural, agricultural,
two nations that follows the Lohit Line of Actual Control (LAC), on aromatic and medicinal products
River. This route was in use for the Chinese side. in exchange for Chinese consumer
mutual trade by local traders on and electronic goods. Unlike all
There is no proper road only in
both sides till as late as 1960. This other big projects and dream, here
the last three kilometres over the
BPM is a positive step towards lies a sleepy road, barely used
LAC. But that apart, both sides
affirming the mutual commitment except by military, which can
have very good roads. In fact on the
of strengthening relations between open up the North East India to the
Indian side, the road from Tinuskia
the two nations. east. q
to Walong is all weather roads free
The occasion was also utilized from snow as it does not reach great (E-mail: [email protected])
Yojana January 2012

Forthcoming &
February 2012
Issues
January 2012
An Approach to the 12th Five Year Plan
February 2012
Foreign Trade

Personality
tribute
Bhupen Hazarika : the Man, the Legacy
Parag Sarma
s the N o v e m b e r He was fortunate in his childhood
A mist settles down on

the funeral pyre of
Dr. Bhupen Hazarika
and the unprecedented
public participation and frenzied
emotions that Assam witnessed
to have grown up in Tezpur at a
time when the three colossus of
Assam’s creative world was giving
shape to her twentieth century
cultural destiny: the firebrand
Marxist revolutionary, poet,
over his funeral for a period of lyricist, and singer Bishnu Prasad
seventy two hours gives away to a Rava, the eminent playwright,
pensive rumination, one is bound stage and film actor Phani Sarma
to reflect on the work and life of a and the musician, lyricist and
1926—2011
man that had infused every strain the man who gave Assam her
of Assam’s cultural being for that can be accommodated if we cinema, Jyotiprasad Agarwalla.
more than four decades. He was realise that he was a peoples’ They took him under their tutelage
not an easy man to understand. His artist and strived to understand and infused in him the robust
public face that ranged from being the cultural, social and political humanism and love for the people,
an avowed left wing humanitarian dynamics that moved the the desire to bridge communities,
for most part of his life to a right people. He is not one to enforce and to wash away the vestiges of
wing assert or of ‘India Shining’ ideological paradigms from a colonial past that had entrapped
in the twilight of his career might above, a theoretical ideologue that the people of the North East in
have left many perplexed. His would decide what is best for the a time warp. No wonder that he
apparent surrender to the forces people from the confines of an sang Assam and the region to
of mainstream Bollywood from ivory tower; but one who would the nation celebrating the rivers
the days of his IPTA theatre and inform his political and cultural and mountains, the dances and
experimental cinema might have ideology from the grassroots and the dresses, the festivals and the
bemused many. Yet contradictions try to understand why people food. Yet he knew that the confines
in creative souls are a universal behave and believe in the way of the region could not fulfil his
phenomenon. In Bhupen Hazarika, they do. agitated creativity or his wish to
The author is Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Tezpur University, Assam.

represent the people and place he him in the Indian mainstream and guitar wielding bard that sought
was so fond of. Born to a father he mediated the folk heritage of to alleviate the condition of the
who moved all over Assam due his land with the contemporary masses through an awakening in
to his professional commitments, demands of mass culture. Educated them of their political and social
Bhupen Hazarika imbibed the in Assam, Kashi and New York, rights. His social activism was to
wanderlust to experience the world he straddles many cultures and form ‘sur bahinis’ to raise money
in all its hues, to soak and bask many oeuvres of a film maker, and give succour to those afflicted
in the cultures of distant lands, lyricist, poet, litterateur, political by floods and riots. One can only
and carry back to his people the activist, legislator and a cultural hope that the mass participation
message of universal brotherhood. bureaucrat. that one witnessed in the aftermath
Thus, Paul Robsons’s ‘We are in
the same boat brothers’ became As the platitudes wane and of his death will rekindle in the
an anthem for him that resonated popular outpouring of grief smithy of their hearts the spirit
all over India in his voice, and the gives way to a more deep rooted for which Bhupen Hazarika lived
famous song ‘hang down your void at the intangibility of his and sang, and ignite in them the
head Tom Dooley’ mutated into the existence, one need to take stock dormant humanity that will light
famous ‘Manuh Manuhar Babe’, of what his legacy means to the the beautiful fires that melt the
which he later sang in many other country and Assam. He sang of a muzzle of the guns and neutralise
Indian languages. Triumph of the rainbow country of mutual trust the bombs. Assam, North East
repressed and downtrodden always between different ethnic groups, and India need a revolution. For
excited him and his famous eulogy an accommodation and celebration even peace is a revolution. Let
to Bangladesh on its birth is still of difference, and a democracy of Dr. Bhupen Hazarika be its new
fresh for those who hear it for the perspective that was inclusive. His
prophet. q
first time. His foray into Bengal brand of the revolutionary was not
and later Mumbai established the gun toting insurgent but the (E-mail: [email protected])
l Born in the year 1926, the 85-year-old Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner was a child prodigy in every sense. He
recorded his first song at a tender age of 12. The song 'Biswa Bijoy No Jowan' of just the second Assamese film
'Indramalati' was the start of a life long association.
l A multifaceted genius, Hazarika was everything from a singer to a director but his heart remained that of a poet
who breathes freely in the indigenous culture of Assam.
l The balladeer who composed his own lyrics and music last lent his voice to the film "Gandhi To Hitler", where
he sang Mahatma Gandhi's favourite bhajan 'Vaishnav jan'.
l His directorial debut 'Era Batar Sur' came in the year 1956 and there was no looking back for Hazarika after it.
l He was the man behind the inception of colour films in Arunachal Pradesh. 'Mera Dharam Meri Maa' (1977) gave
impetus to filmmakers with rich cultural heritage to come up with path breaking projects.
l Hindi film 'Ek Pal' provided Hazarika the much awaited chance and he lived up to the expectations by helping
the film win several acclaimed awards.
l The deep baritone with a Midas touch ruled hearts in extremely popular TV serial 'Lohit Kinare', directed by
Kalpana Lajmi.
l The music of 'Rudaali' not only won awards but also established Hazarika as someone who can master class and
mass with the same tune.
l The voice from the shores of the river Brahmaputra benefited Bengali film and music industry too.
l Indian cinemas's highest honour Dadasaheb Phalke Award was conferred upon him in the year 1992.
l Winner of many National Awards, Hazarika worked in close co-ordination with the government and served on
several important committees including the Censor Board and the National Film Development Corporation.

Best practices
Micro Credit changing lives of women
Mamata Mishra
ustainable Monowara had to take a decision
S social c h a n g e
requires strenuous
efforts by those who are
determined to improve
the prevalent societal norms and are
ready to accept the consequences of
between quitting the work and
getting lost in the multitude of
desperately poor, or take the
challenge to bail out the family from
the pangs of poverty. When it came,
the decision was affirmative.
their decision.
With the meagre savings of
While efforts have been made a lifetime, and a little help from
at various levels for poverty well wishers, she and her husband
alleviation and improving the purchased the papad unit.
Easy process of living standard of the people of
lower income groups, the foremost
To meet the requirement of
working capital, Monowara
accessing micro thing required is the will among
approached Nightingale Charitable
those people to change their status
credit in different in the society.
Society, a non-government micro-
finance facilitator, for loan. Through
cycles has infused It was out of the sheer need Nightingale, the North East
much needed that Monowara Begum of South Development Finance Corporation
Saraniya had to gather courage and Ltd. (NEDFi), also provided
confidence among step out of her house to work in a financial support of two lakh rupees
papad industry, after her husband to Monowara. Now, her unit has
the lower income had lost his job. At a time when modern mixing machine, packaging
groups to kick start her family of four was managing and weighting machines, which
somehow with Monowara’s income, have helped boost production.
their own ventures the owner of the papad industry
‘Earlier, I was worried about my
decided to sell the unit.
own livelihood and the needs of
Already worried about the my children. Today, I have a team
education of her two daughters, of 12 workers. Sometimes, when I
The author is with the Assam Tribune, Guwahati.

see their children, I feel contented childbirth. A loan, in any case, was of micro finance activities was
that I took the right decision three considered as a last resort to cope acknowledged by NEDFi in 2010,
years back,” says Monowara. with financial constraints. and the Society was given the
NEDFi Entrepreneurial Excellence
At a time when even the And, for women, particularly
Award 2010.
government is encouraging self those of lower income group
employment, micro finance schemes families, a loan and its repayment “At present we are under the
have started gaining ground in the was beyond imagination. Societies Act, but very soon our
State. Easy process of accessing organization would be directly
micro credit in different cycles has H o w e v e r, t h e t r e n d h a s regulated by the Reserve Bank
infused much needed confidence altered with the changing societal of India. From a registered
among the lower income groups to framework and the growing needs society, our organization has
kick start their own ventures. of people. been upgraded to a non-banking
In 2004, the Nightingale financial company,” says Mantu
A pioneering crusader of this
Charitable Society started micro Nath Sarma, the Chief Executive
social change is Nightingale
finance services with Rs 2.5 lakh Officer of the Society.
Charitable Society, Chandmari,
Guwahati, which has offered from NEDFi and Rs 1.5 lakh from “Since the time we have started
financial service to poor people of the Rastriya Grameen Vikash the micro credit system, we can
Assam under income generation Nidhi (RGVN). At present, it has boast of 100 percent loan recovery
activities from the year 2004. From a business transaction worth eight from our clients. Similarly, our
a humble beginning of Rs 7.19 crore rupees with the NEDFi and repayment rate to the funding
lakh in the year 2004-05, the fund around six lakh rupees with the agencies is also 100 percent. We
raised by the society from financial RGVN. are the first to start micro finance
institutions and banks have swelled Other funders of the society in Guwahati,” says Sarma.
to Rs 1,478.72 lakh during the year include The Assam Co-operative The loan is given to a five-
2010-11. Apex bank, Assam Financial member group of women under the
The society has a mission to Corporation, Maanaveeya Holdings age group of 18 to 55 years, living
economically empower the low and Investment (P) Ltd, Assam in proximity, and each member
income segment, especially women, Grameen Vikash Bank, Small earning between Rs 2,000 to Rs
by providing access to need based Industries Development Bank of 5,000 per month. In the first cycle,
financial services in a cost effective India, Indian Bank and IFMR, each individual member of the
manner, on a sustainable basis. Chennai. group can get up to Rs 10,000 and
Thanks to the growing awareness in the second cycle, the loan up to
Till recently, going for a loan was
about micro finance among people, Rs 15,000 is given to the individual
an indicator of extreme financial
the client base of the society has members. In the third cycle, the
crunch like critical illness, or
increased to 16,000 by the end group members can get the loan up
urgency like wedding, funeral or
of 2010-11. The to Rs 20,000.
disbursement target Karabi Rajbongshi of Bhootnath,
has been fixed at Guwahati started soft toy making as
Rs 27 crore in the a hobby but soon her toys became
current financial popular in the nearby localities.
year, which is more
than double of last “Considering the high cost of
year’s target of Rs the raw materials in Guwahati,
13 crore. it was impossible to think about
starting a business. But when we
The outstanding came to know about micro finance
performance and by Nightingale, we planned to take
dedication of the the loan and bring raw materials
Society in respect from Delhi,”says Karabi.

With the help of her husband There are a number of other Kalapahar, Mangaldoi, Nagaon
Shankar Das, Karabi Rajbongshi women, who have taken the help of and Howly. It is also planning
has started the business of soft toys micro finance to fight poverty and to expand its activities through
and now she supplies the same in become self reliant. five more branches in Morigaon,
the shops of Guwahati. She also Barpeta road, Bongaigaon, Bijni
“We make the loan taking
sells the toys herself during Durga and Abhayapuri, to be established
process very simple for our clients.
Puja. In her words “this year,
Our credit officers visit the houses in the current financial year.
we sold toys worth Rs 17,000
of the prospective clients and In 2010, the Society imparted
during Puja days. My husband also
conduct Compulsory Group training on micro finance to
supplies the toys in other districts
during special occasions like Raas,
Training in which every minute 162 bank officers from different
detail about the loan is thoroughly commercial banks. Apart from
Christmas, New Year among others.
Now, both of us are completely into
explained to them for three days. this, the training on micro finance
After the loan application is filled, activities was also imparted to
this business.”
the branch manager interviews officials deputed by a Manipur-
She readily accepts that the the entire group. It is only after based NGO.
family is in a much better position his approval that we provide the
than what it used to be four years loan. Since we don’t allow thumb All the clients of the society
back. “Now, we can pay the impression, a client has to be are insured. In case of death, the
school and tuition fees of our three literate enough to write her name,” family of the clients would not
daughters. We are also thinking sarma added. have to pay the debt. Caring for
about constructing a house. the health related needs of the
The society that started with
clients, the society is considering
Karabi has also employed six only one salaried staff and some
the proposal of making health
workers to help her in toy making. volunteers in the year 1997 has 40
insurance compulsory for all its
The couple is now planning to staff members in its seven branches
clients. q
expand their business in the markets in the State. The branches are located
of Shillong. in Beltola, Chandmari, Maligaon, (E-mail: [email protected])
New farm technology in Mizoram

The hilly State of Mizoram is expecting a significant increase in rice production this year, thanks to the new
farming technology– system of rice intensification.
The agriculture department has introduced the improved farming system in different low-lying areas of Mizoram.
It has been experienced that rice produce under SRI is double that of conventional farming system.
With the new method the farmers produced approximately 2.5 to 3.0 metric tonnes of rice per hectare of land
compared to 1.75 metric tonnes per hectare under conventional method.
From next season the department would provide the farmers with pesticides and fertilizers. Slaked lime and
fertilizers for the rabi season.
Owing to the government’s boost on mechanisation of farming, officials in state agriculture department said
the area of jhum cultivation in Mizoram decreased by 36 percent and that of wet rice cultivation increased by
28.4 percent during last year.
While the area of shifting cultivation in 2010-2011 has decreased from 44,947 hectares to 28,562, the area of
wet rice cultivation has increased from 9,446 hectares to 12,130 hectares.
At present, Mizoram produces only 25 per cent of the total rice consumption. Mizoram produces only 44,950
metric tonnes of rice, against the total consumption of 1,80,000 metric tonnes. As the government declared
bumper rice harvest year, more farmers took up wet rice cultivation.
The department targets to produce 52,000 MT of rice this year. It aims to increase rice produce per hectare of
land in WRC from 1.6 MT to 2.5 MT and from 0.9 MT to 1.2 MT in jhum areas.

Economic editors’ conference-2011
ndia’s GDP grew commodity prices have seen volatile Credit off take is also showing
I by 9.3 percent during

2007-08. Due to the
global financial crisis
the growth rate in
2008-09 had slowed down to
6.8 percent. However, India
changes, as also the capital flows.
The monetary policy tightening
and the increase in the interest rates
along with the global uncertainty
have not helped the industry to go
a healthy trend. Last year from
April to September Bank credit
grew by 19.2 percent. This year
the growth over the corresponding
period was 19.5 percent. Revenue
in for fresh investments.” collections so far have kept pace
was among the earliest nations
with the expectations and there
to recover from the crisis. The “Most observers are expecting
could be potential upside. Services
growth rate rose to 8.0 percent in India’s growth to go down to below
2009-10 and 8.5 percent in have done well and agriculture
8 percent. This is disappointing but
2010-11. The Indian economy grew is expected to grow at 3 percent.
at the same time we must not lose
by 7.7 percent during April-June Instead of mailing a formal forecast
perspective of the global situation.
2011. Agriculture, industry and of the growth this year, he asked the
There is slowdown all over the
services registered growth rates of editors and correspondents to wait
world. In the second quarter of
3.9, 5.1 and 10 percent, respectively, for the Mid-Year Review which will
this calendar year (2011), the US
in the first quarter. be presented to Parliament in early
economy grew by 1.6 percent and
December.
This was observed by the the European Union economy grew
Finance Minister Shri Pranab by 1.7 percent. If you look at the On the issue of black money
Mukherjee while inaugurating the growth rate in the first and second the finance minister said that due
Economic Editors' Conference quarters of this calendar year, among to sustained efforts in the last two
2011. Indicating the pressure on the G20 countries there is only one years, both domestically as well as
Government to meet its fiscal deficit
nation, Australia, which had faster internationally, the Government
goal, he said, “Let me not hide the
growth rate in the second quarter, has been successful in creating
fact that I have been disappointed
when it achieved a growth rate of an environment where a regular
by our growth performance over
the last few months. It is evident 1.4 percent. Indonesia had the same flow of banking information has
that India’s growth rate in 2011- growth rate in both quarters. All started.
12 will be less than what we were other nations had slower growth in
Expressing anguish over the
expecting in February when I the second quarter.”
uncontained prices of essential
presented the Budget. In the last
The Finance Minister underlined items he said that the inflation
few months, a number of factors,
that number of policy measures has remained sticky around
both international and domestic,
are being taken and the long-run 9 percent during the first half of
have impacted our economy. The
international crude oil prices have indicators look robust. Net FDI the current financial year. The
continued to remain at or above US this year has been double that of inflationary pressure in recent
$ 105 per barrel. When we were last year for the corresponding times have emanated from multiple
working on the Budget earlier in the period. In 2010-11 from April to sources, the most important being
year, the price of crude was roughly August India received 6.5 billion the global rise in commodity
between 90 and 95 dollars. This dollars of FDI. This year over the prices and liquidity enhancing
sharp subsequent rise has placed corresponding period the country policies adopted by central banks
an unexpected burden on us. Other received 16.8 billion dollars. in industrialized nations. There

were also some seasonal factors that farm output has also achieved increasing agricultural production
created pressure on prices. an impressive growth rate of 7.5 and productivity. Government has
percent during the last quarter of been upwardly revising MSP of
To contain this inflationary
2010-11 thus helping Agriculture major crops such as paddy, wheat
pressure, monetary policy has
GDP to register a growth of 6.6 and pulses at regular interval for
been tightened by RBI to contain
percent during the year. This also incentivizing farmers to produce
inflation and anchor inflationary
makes average growth rate in more.”
expectations since March 2010 in a
current plan to be 3.2 percent which
series of steps. The policy repo rate Addressing the conference
could be achieved under some of
has been raised cumulatively by 325 Shri Kapil Sibal, the Minister of
the worst climate conditions like be
basis points since then. The steady
drought, un-seasonal rains, flood, Communications and Information
rise in policy rates was reflected in Technology said that mobile
frost etc. in recent past.
borrowing as well as lending rates phones would be repositioned as an
with a lag. Though reserve money The Agriculture Minister said instrument of empowerment. This
growth evinced a deceleration, that the results of rejuvenating would combine communication
broad money growth remained agriculture sector are encouraging with proof of identity, fully secure
above the indicative trajectory in but there are challenges ahead. financial and other transaction
the current fiscal. Credit growth, Demand of food grain will grow
capability and multi-lingual services.
which had accelerated in 2010-11, rapidly in next few decades not
The Minister also said that demands
moderated in the first quarter of only due to growing population
for ICTE products and services would
2011-12 on a year basis. Non-food but also due to rise in per capita
be leveraged to foster innovation and
credit growth remained close to the income and various governmental
encourage R&D through academic
indicative trajectory of RBI. interventions to ensure food
institutions and industry. He also
and nutritional security to less
Agriculture and Food Processing emphasized that it is envisioned to
advantaged people. He said India
Industries Minister, Shri Sharad transform India into a global hub
has to produce more for ensuring
Pawar expressed the hope that for electronics system design and
food and nutritional security of the
with record production in kharif manufacturing (ESDM).
nation. But, this will be achieved
and rabi seasons this year, the food
with more competitive demand Shri S. Jaipal Reddy, Minister of
production will exceed the target
on land and water, progressive Petroleum & Natural Gas said that
in 2011-12.
fragmentation of land holdings, crude oil production in the country
The Minister also stated degrading natural resource base is expected to reach 38.19 Millions
that strategies for rejuvenating and emerging concerns of climate Metric Tonne (MMT) in 2011-12.
agriculture sector have been change.
This mainly comes from Barmer,
working well and the targeted 4 Rajasthan and Krishna Godavari
He said, “Agriculture Credit
percent growth in agriculture sector Basin that contributed to over 6
plays an important role in
would be achieved. MMT. The production of natural
improving agricultural production,
Addressing the Economic productivity and mitigating both gas (including CBM) for 2011-12
Editors’ Conference, the Minister climatic and non-climatic risks. is projected at 51.68 Billion Cubic
asserted that food grain production Our concerted effort has seen Meter (BCM). Efforts are being
has reached a record level of surpassing credit flow target in made by ONGC, OIL and Private/
241.6 million tonne in 2010- 2010-11 by about 19 percent. We Joint Venture companies to further
11, having also achieved highest are hopeful to surpass target in this increase the crude oil and natural
ever production of wheat, pulses, year too. Similarly, price signals gas production during the coming
oilseeds and cotton. Overall are an extremely effective tool for years.

Underlining that India is now on At a time when India Inc. is the year, I do not know whether
World oil and gas map, Shri Reddy saddled with the twin problem of it is possible or wise, because
stated that the country has balance high inflation and low industrial normally, we don’t raise excise
recoverable reserves of oil+oil growth, Prime Minister’s Economic duty within the year… Going
equivalent gas (O+OEG) of about Advisory Council (PMEAC) ahead next year [Budget for 2012-
2041 Million tonnes. He further Chairman C. Rangarajan pitched 13], it is something that one can
for rollback of the excise duty do”, he said. It may be recalled that
informed that, under the eight rounds
stimulus that was provided to the to help the manufacturing sector in
of New Exploration Licensing
industry to combat the slowdown tackling the global crisis impact,
Policy (NELP), Production Sharing
in the wake of the global meltdown the government had provided three
Contracts have been signed for 235 in 2008.
blocks and an investment of US fiscal stimulus packages starting
$ 15.88 billion has been made by Dr. Rangarajan made out a from December 2008 which
Indian and foreign companies. Shri case for urgent rationalization of included reduced excise duties
Reddy said that exploration blocks subsidies along with roll-back among other sops. Accordingly,
offered under NELP-IX would be of excise duties to the pre-crisis the three major ad valorem excise
levels if the budgeted fiscal deficit rates (14 percent) applicable on
awarded shortly.
target for 2011-12 is to be met. non-petroleum products were
Shri Reddy also stressed on the “Adjustment in subsidies will have slashed by four percentage points
measures taken by the government to be done as early as possible. and later, following economic
to provide fuels to common man at Otherwise, we will not be in a recovery, the duty cuts were
affordable prices and the need to position to contain [the] fiscal partially rolled back a couple of
maintain health of Oil Marketing deficit”, he said. years later.
Companies (OMCs). As things stands, Dr. Rangarajan In the current uncertain
maintained that it would be a environment, high inflation had led
Speaking about supplies of
herculean task for the government
petroleum products to far-flung to a squeeze on investment coupled
to retain the fiscal deficit at 4.6
areas, Petroleum Minister informed with a fall in demand leading to a
percent of the GDP (gross domestic
that to meet the increased demand slowdown in industrial and overall
product) as estimated in the budget
of LPG in the North-East region, growth. A former RBI Governor
for 2011-12, a point that was
industry is augmenting the bottling himself, Dr. Rangarajan felt that
highlighted by Finance Minister
capacities from the present level Pranab Mukherjee himself. “It hiking interest rates was the right
of 304 thousand metric tonnes could be slightly higher than 4.6 step for taming inflation and the
per annum (TMTPA) to about percent. I think it is very difficult to repo rate was not at the pre-crisis
400 TMTPA. In J&K also bottling talk about numbers. It could exceed levels as yet.
capacities are being augmented by a small margin”, Dr. Rangarajan
“The RBI has been raising
from current 125 TMTPA to 251 said.
rates… in baby steps. Therefore,
TMTPA to meet the growing LPG In this regard, the PMEAC the present repo rate is still lower
demand of the region. He added that Chairman also stressed the need than at the pre-crisis level. But with
to enhance the winter stocking in for ending the “accommodatory” inflation rising, the responsibility of
Leh region, the tankages are being fiscal policy measures by raising the central bank becomes greater…
augmented from 1500 MT to 3300 the excise duty rates to pre-crisis Inflation is remaining at a level
MT. Furthermore, at Leh, bottling levels. “I would suggest that we way above what I would call
manual unit filling machines are really need to raise the excise the comfort zone. Therefore, it
being replaced with Carousel to rates to the level at which they becomes absolutely essential for
improve filling rate, he added. were prior to the crisis. But during the RBI to act”, he said.

As for the GDP growth year will be close to 8 percent”, that although the overall savings
prospects for the current fiscal, he said. and investment parameters were
Dr. Rangarajan said that owing to “conducive” for 9 percent GDP
The PMEAC chief pointed
various factors, the PMEAC has growth, but “if we try to push
out that while farm sector growth
lowered its projection to close to economy to grow beyond 9
would be stronger than what was
8 percent from its July estimate percent, it will impact the balance
projected earlier, “the industrial
of 8.2 percent. “The PMEAC had of payments (BoP) and create
growth rate will be lower, while
projected a growth rate of 8.2
the services sector growth rate will inflationary pressure.” q
percent in July. There are many
remain more or less the same”, as
factors which will require us to (Compiled by
anticipated.
adjust it downwards. I expect Rakesh Renu, Senior Editor,
that the growth rate in the current Dr. Rangarajan also cautioned Yojana Hindi)
Real Time Train Information System (RTIS) based on 'SIMRAN'

Advanced Communication and Information Technologies have revolutionalised the ways we do our
business. Indian Railways is no exception. Customer expectations have risen. Yesterday's better services
are today's basic necessities. Availability of accurate train running information on a click of a button is
one such facility public would love to have.
Train information dissemination through 139 in the existing Train Information System over Indian
Railway, being dependent on manual collection & feeding of train running information has certain
limitations.
To overcome limitations of the existing Train Running Information System, it was decided to develop
GPS based train tracking system jointly by RDSO & IIT-Kanpur. The system has been developed and
working successfully in number of trains. It has now been decided to open the Real-time Train Information
System (RTIS) to public in few trains to begin with effect from 19 October 2011.
RTIS system deployed in the trains will provide the following information to public/passengers:
(i) Train locations.
(ii) Train running positon (i.e. whether train is running on time of if running late and by how much.
(iii) Train location with respect to next stopping station in terms of kms.
This Information will be available on website "http://www.simran.in. People may also get the train running
information through SMS by sending a text message "<train number>" to mobile number 09415139139.
A typical message received by passenger say for train number 12004, a Shatabdi Exp. train, is as
under:-
"On 19/10/2011 10:00, Train 12004 N Delhi - Lucknow Shat. is running at 129 kmph near Bharthana,
126 km from KANPUR CENTRAL. Presently Right on time"
The above message is actual reply received to SMS query.
Ministry of Railways has decided to implement RTIS to track all trains, passenger as well as freight
trains. For this, a work has been approved in Railway Budget 2011 at a cost of Rs. 110.0 Cr. The project
is likely to be completed by December 2012.

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December 2011

Let noble thoughts come to us from every side

YOJANA December 2011 1

YOJANA December 2011 3

4 YOJANA December 2011

Look East Policy: A Receding Hype or

Madhurjya Prasad Bezbaruah

he ‘ L ook E a s t ’ process of a series of initiatives

T policy (LEP), initiated

YOJANA December 2011 5

6 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 7

Micro Finance in the North East

Amiya Kumar Sharma

n order to appreciate it is viewed in the context of the

The author is Executive Director, Rashtriya Grameen Vikash Nidhi, Guwahati.

8 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 9

10 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 11

Nuclear Power is our Gateway to a

APJ Abdul Kalam

very single atom Energy and economy

E in the universe carries

12 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 13

14 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 15

16 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 17

Infrastructure Scenario for the North East

he North Region of the terrain and the population

18 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 19

20 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 21

22 YOJANA December 2011

boosting the economy through MSMEs

n India, the Micro, the MSME sector contributes 8

I Small and Medium

wealth, generating Table-I Indian MSME Sector – At a Glance*

YOJANA December 2011 23

24 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 25

26 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 27

Health Status of Women in the North-East

he N orth E a s t a lack of two-way understanding

T consists of eight Indian

28 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 29

Table 4: Health Infrastructure available to North East Women

30 YOJANA December 2011

YOJANA December 2011 31

32 YOJANA December 2011

SAARC Summit in Maldives

YOJANA December 2011 33

Agricultural Development in Assam

asically an another 8 percent are engaged

34 YOJANA December 2011