“In 1950, Assam (which included Arunachal Pradesh), North East India’s largest state, was more than four per cent richer than the rest of India. Isolated and often ignored, by 1999 it was more than 45 per cent poorer, with the gap steadily widening.” It is unbelievable but true, according to a United Nations report.

Much water flowed down the mighty Brahmaputra with the passage of time, and India is inching towards the status of a developed nation from a third world country. But why and what are the factors responsible for the continuous neglect of the North East? 

If Singapore which was turned into a heap of sand by the Japanese during the 2nd World War can become a rich nation in South East Asia, why has the North East, particularly Arunachal Pradesh – a repository of natural resources – remained underdeveloped? 

Why have the planners failed to realize the importance of the historic Stillwell Road and the strategically built airstrip at Ledo in Assam, and left these unused and subjects of dilapidation? Why is the fuss now over the reopening of the road that could link Kunming in China even after India adopted globalization and liberalization? 

It is a fact today that “Delhi had decided not to develop Arunachal after the 1962 Chinese aggression fearing that it could benefit the neighbour,” as revealed by former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, in his public address at Itanagar in 2003. 

Admitting honestly that “It was a historical blunder”, Advani had remarked; “Arunachal Delhi se door hey, par Delhi ke dil se nahin”.  But it had failed to cut any ice among the Delhi mandarins who knew pretty well that the minimum infrastructure, like roads and airports / airstrips for connectivity, educational and health facilities, industries – the basic requirements of development - were not developed in this region. The oft repeated allegations of the Centre’s apathetic treatment of this region’s developmental needs, particularly population-based funding criteria failed to stir the conscience of the planners. 

This perhaps would have continued but for the Sino-India border row taking the centre stage last year with Chinese envoy Sun Yuxi reiterating “the whole of Arunachal is Chinese territory and all Arunachalees are Chinese” and BJP MP from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijiju stalling the proceedings of the Lok Sabha on the imbroglio. 

Unpredictable China had stoked the controversy by refusing a visa to an Arunachalee IAS officer Ganesh Koyu earlier evoking strong resentment from various quarters and prompting the Prime Minister to stop the scheduled visit of a 100-strong IAS officers’ team to China. And Rijiju had castigated the UPA government at the Centre for deliberately allowing the Sino-India border row to drift out of hand so that Arunachal territory looks like a disputed area in tune with the Chinese claim over it.

Though the state Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu had described the denial of visa to Koyu as a refusal to accept Arunachal as an integral part of India and sought immediate intervention of the Centre on the issue, Beijing reflected a change in its attitude when six of its drilling engineers came to Kharsang in Arunachal’s Changlang district in the first part of this year to install Chinese rigs. These engineers were granted Indian visas and China also granted a visa to an Arunachalee diplomatic passport holder (Rijiju) to visit Beijing to attend the Olympic Games as an Indian delegate. 

L K   Advani - “Delhi had decided not to develop Arunachal after the 1962 Chinese aggression fearing that it could benefit the neighbour.”

 

Delhi got up from its deep slumber albeit too late to realize the importance of this sensitive state which was evident from the statement of External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukharjee that the Centre would extend all possible support for the development of this borer state to match with the development on the other side of the international border. 

The Centre has given a four-fold hike in 2008-09 annual allocation to the Border Roads Organization (BRO) (additional Rs 200 crore) prompting it to set up another new project – Arunank – to develop the border roads. 

The PM’s package included the Rs 14,500 crore Trans-Arunachal Highway of 1860 km length to link Tawang on the Sino-India border to Khonsa on Indo-Mynamar border, four-lane highway to link Itanagar with Guwahati, rail link between Harmuti and Itanagar, green field airport at Itanagar, activating nine airstrips across the state, a Rs 550 crore project for electrification of border villages, Rs. 50 crore corpus fund to Ramakrishna Mission Hospital, Itanagar in recognition of its yeoman’s service to humanity, Rs. 454 crore for completion of 12000  incomplete projects, among others. 

Defence Minister AK Antony along with Army Chief Deepak Kapoor, defence secretary Vijay Singh visited Tawang followed by his deputy Rao Inderjit Singh, Air Chief Marshal SP Tyagi, MoS for Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Selja, Mukahrjee and Vice President of India Md Hamid Ansari, while Union DoNER Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, MoS for Commerce Jairam Ramesh, MoS (PMO) Prithiviraj Chavan and a number of top ranking central bureaucrats are frequenting this state. 

The then President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam visited Kibithu in Anjaw district on the Sino-India border on 15th March last year, while the present Vice President visited the picturesque township on 27th November 2008. Aiyar also recently visited Mechuka, a snow-clad township on the Sino-India border.  

After the vice president inaugurated the North East Business Summit organized by the DoNER ministry at Guwahati recently, a Czechoslovakia business delegation, Russian diplomats and a three-member team comprising ambassadors Milena Ramirez of Bolivian Republic of Venezuela, Genaro Vicente Pappalardo of Paraguay and Carlos Abad of Ecuador, accompanied by Rijiju, visited the state to explore investment opportunities. 

Notwithstanding the political dimension, Arunachal Pradesh with its vast natural resources has the capacity to contribute immensely to the growth of national GDP which was reflected in the view of the Prime Minister, who had gone on record saying, “Arunachal Pradesh could serve as a window to the South East Asia, where 50 per cent of the world’s rich people live.”

The land-locked hilly state has 60,000 MW hydropower potential according to Central Electricity Authority, while former OIL CMD said on record that the fuel trapped in coal shells in the state could sustain India’s next 100 years’ requirement, which was accepted by Aiyar, who held the Petroleum portfolio before Murli Deora took the charge. Moreover, the state which has 270 million tons of carbon deposits is also one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world which offers scope for various projects as the medicinal plants and herbs of Arunachal which are sold at throw away prices now, and after being processed at Mumbai, are being exported in crores.  

In fact, SK Singh is the first governor to call a spade a spade, and in quick succession Dorjee Khandu with a political determination for a change for the better took the rein in April 2007, former Army Chief JJ Singh was appointed governor four days before the visit of the Prime Minister to state, a visit after a gap of 12 years by any Prime Minister. It is but natural for Arunachal to become a destination for those who matter in the development of this great nation.

Pradeep Kumar