AIR Spotlight: Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio Newsonair. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation. This article is about the discussion on the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region.

Participants:

• Nitin Gokhale, Political Analyst
• K V Prasad, Journalist

Context:

• The Union Cabinet has approved a new scheme for the North East region named, Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM DevINE) and allocated Rs. 6,600 crores for four years from 2022-23 to 2025-26 (remaining years of the 15th Finance Commission period).
  • PM-DevINE was announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 to address development gaps in the North Eastern Region (NER).

Read about the PM-DevINE scheme in detail in the linked article.

Details:

• The Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme with 100% Central funding and will be implemented by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
• The new scheme will focus on the following aspects:
  • Improvement of physical infrastructure under the PM Gati Shakti scheme to fill any deficit in them.
  • Support social development projects ensuring basic health and education facilities.
  • Ensuring livelihood opportunities for the population, especially youth and women.
  • Fill the development gaps in various sectors.

Challenges in the development of the region:

• Difficult terrain poses challenges to ensuring adequate and quality connectivity in the region.
• Limited connectivity from mainland India poses a major challenge.
• Insurgency activities in the region.
• Debate of development v/s sustainability in the region.

Significance of the region:

• Hydro-electric potential of the region.
• Tourism potential of the region is huge given the flora, fauna, and religious and cultural sites in the region.
• The abundant natural resources of the region offer economic growth opportunities.
• Possibility of onward connectivity to neighbouring countries through the northeastern states. This offers immense opportunities for improving India’s bilateral relations with neighbouring countries like Bangladesh and Myanmar. This is important for India’s act east policy.

Significance of the scheme:

• PM-DevINE is an addition to the quantum of resources already available for the development of the NER. It will not be a substitute for existing Central and State schemes. Hence the scheme will help ensure the flow of additional funds to the region’s development.
• By providing an impetus to the development process in the northeastern states, the scheme will go a long way in removing the feeling of alienation and the feeling of being left out of the development process that people in the northeast region face. This is important for national integration.
• This will, apart from improving the socio-economic condition of the population of the region, also help address some root factors behind the insurgency in the region. This will help divert available funds towards productive projects and initiatives.

Read previous AIR Spotlight articles in the link.

AIR Spotlight: Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region:- Download PDF Here