PM Announces “Vision 2020” or North East

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the North Eastern Region Vision 2020 document recently promising more infrastructural development in the region.
This Vision 2020 defines the path to that bright future,” he said.
Connectivity and infrastructure development are important for development as well as institution building and strengthening of  local democracy, he said.
He said every major Ministry in the government spends 10 percent of its budgetary allocation mandatorily for the North East region.
“Most Centrally Sponsored Schemes provide assistance to the North Eastern States with a grant component of 90 per cent as against 30 to 75 per cent in the case of other States of the Union,” he said.
Additional funds are provided for special packages and situations of the region but more needs to be done. Infrastructure deficiency remains a major concern of the government, he said.
The government plans to link all state capitals with railway lines. Airports are being modernized and new ones are being built. A program of road building has been taken up under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for theNorth East (SARDP-NE).
Trans-Arunachal Highway is also planned.  A program for the electrification of all villages along the State border and construction of a Greenfield Airport in Itanagar and a daily helicopter service between Guwahati and Tawang will also be taken up, he said.

EP Desk