The North East Region matters and how!

Its long neglect has proved costly for nation building

T P VENU

“The future of the northeast, its people and their emotional integration with the rest of the country was intimately tied to the destiny of India as a great nation,” said the then Governor of Nagaland P B Acharya a few years ago, in 2018, to be precise which holds true now and will in the future.

One of the reasons for the northeast not developing to the desired extent has been its unique geography. Sample this: While the eight north eastern states account for 8 per cent of the country’s geography, they share 98 per cent of the border with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Tibetan region. Better rail, road and air connectivity could pave the way for the much needed integration which would also result in economic development.

Constraints to accelerated growth are poor infrastructure affecting-road connectivity, rail connectivity, cyber and telecom connectivity, inland waterways and power. The critical non-economic requirements that will condition economic performance on the ground include law and order, internal security, good governance, local-self-government, diplomatic initiatives with neighbors. Foreign diplomacy initiatives need seamlessly blend with national economic development requirements.

The geographical disadvantage itself could become its major advantage. The region has huge potential and is untapped. That in itself is an opportunity. Also, the region can be a gateway to the East where millions of consumers of the ASEAN countries can be connected with trade and commerce. It is in Northeast India that Southeast Asia begins.  

Fact File

• The NER, which forms the easternmost border of India, comprises eight, largely hilly states – Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Tripura, Sikkim and Nagaland.
• The region shares international borders of 5,812 km with the neighboring countries of China, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
• North East Region comprises approx. 7.98% of country’s area including 5,483 Km of India’s international borders.
• Eight states also constitute 3.37% of country’s total agriculture land holding and 34.5% of the total bamboo bearing area in the country.
• NER has about 6 per cent of the national roads and about 13 percent of the national highways but the quality is not good.

The landlocked NER is connected with mainland India by only the narrow 22-km-long Siliguri corridor, also known as the ‘chicken’s neck’, flanked by Nepal and Bangladesh. Central apathy and north-eastern alienation has proved costly. With the need for integration with south eastern economies becoming stronger and also its people with the mainland, the best the centre could do is better connectivity.

“American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good,” said the former US President John F Kennedy. In this case, it is not just roads but rail, air and waterways will bring the North East out of the misty impression that it is engulfed in.