North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS)

The North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme, or commonly known as NESIDS, was sanctioned by the Government of India to focus on projects relating to infrastructure creation concerning water supply, power, and connectivity, and thereby enhancing tourism.

• It also focuses on the social infrastructure of the primary and secondary sectors of health and education. 

This article talks about the various essentials of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme for the IAS exam.

NESIDS Features

The salient features of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme are as follows:

• The scheme was launched under the Ministry of Development of the North East Region on 15th December 2017.
• The North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme is a central scheme.
• The tenure of the scheme is 2017-18 to 2019-20. But, the scheme is still active and many projects are going on under the scheme.
• The scheme will cover projects under the following heads:
  • Physical Infrastructure: Projects relating to water supply, power, and connectivity.
  • Social Infrastructure: Primary and secondary education and health.
  • Projects that promote tourism.

Funding of the scheme:

• Under the Scheme guidelines of NESIDS, 100% central funding is provided to the State Governments of the North Eastern Region for the projects.
• The funds are released in two instalments of 40% and 60%. Initially, a token amount of Rs. 10 lakh is released and the balance amount of the first instalment is released after receipt of the letter of award of the work.

Monitoring of the scheme:

The following is the process of monitoring and evaluating various aspects of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS).

• The State Government of the concerned State will implement a robust monitoring mechanism for the proper execution of projects that are sanctioned under the NESIDS.
• Preferably, the mechanism will comprise officials who are not directly concerned with the execution of a particular project.
• Monitoring and evaluation of the implementation progress of a project will be undertaken with the help of various field inspections by officers of the Ministry of DoNER. 
• Additionally, impact studies, social audits, and evaluations will be executed by the concerned Government through independent agencies at the request of the Ministry of DoNER.
• The Ministries of the Government of India may conduct inspections of the project with the help of their officials while visiting the project area.

NESIDS Objectives

The objectives of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme are as follows:

• To ensure focused development of the North East Region by providing financial assistance to support projects.
• To ensure fair and equitable growth across the North-Eastern Region.
• To develop physical infrastructure such as power connectivity, water supply system, etc.
• To develop social infrastructure such as health and education.

NESIDS Benefits

The benefits of the NESIDS are as follow:

• The assets created under the scheme will be able to boost healthcare and education facilities in the North-Eastern Region.
• Tourism will be promoted.
• The scheme will create employment opportunities for the youth.
• The scheme will help in the overall development of the North Eastern Region.

NESIDS Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme include all the 8 North Eastern States: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Assam, and Sikkim.

• All those projects in these 8 states that do not have any kind of support from the Central or State government or do not come under any big schemes are included under this scheme.

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