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“Every region has its regional aspiration and if these are fulfilled then it will strengthen our national unity”
Mr. Paban Singh Ghatowar was born on the 12th of June 1950 in the town of Dibrugarh in Assam. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Gauhati University and then went on to study Assam Industrial Relations Training in the United Kingdom..
His long list of accomplishments includes holding several prestigious positions such as those of General Secretary, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Assam, General Secretary, Pradesh Congress Committee (Indira), Assam, Member of Lok Sabha, Union Deputy Minister, Labour, Union Deputy Minister, Health and Family Welfare, Union Minister of State , Health and Family Welfare, Member, Executive Committee, Congress Parliamentary Party, Member, Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, besides numerous others.
Widely traveled, he has been to Geneva, the former U.S.S.R, China, South Africa, Spain, Argentina, the USA, Greece, Turkey, Egypt to name a few.
Mr. Ghatowar was appointed as Minister of State (independent charge) in the ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) on the 12th of July 2011.
The following are excerpts of this interview.
EP: You have talked about bridging the gap between mainland India and North East India. How do you propose to do that?
PSG: At the time of Independence, the gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of Assam was among the top 5 states of the country. Now this has gone down not only in Assam but in the other states as well. The GDP gap between the national growth rate and North East states is almost 4% to 5 % in difference. We want to accelerate the development in the North East region (NEr) to catch up with the national GDP growth.
EP: How do you propose to do that?
PSG: We have many problems such as connectivity and agriculture production which is much lower than the national average, so we are promoting agriculture, horticulture, livestock in the NEr. This way, the income of the people will increase as will the developmental progress of the North East. Because of the geographical isolation and all other difficulties, connectivity was our main problem. Almost 96% of the North East boundary is international boundary and we are connected by only 4 % with the mainland through the chicken neck. We have to develop our connectivity with the mainland and also we have to develop our connectivity within the region. We have to develop our national waterways. One is the Brahmaputra and the other is Barrack. The Government of India is in dialogue with Bangladesh to allow more waterways.
EP: Sir when you talk of connectivity the major problem that states in the NEr face is for example, in the state of Meghalaya we do not have railway lines as people fear influx. How do you tackle this mindset?
PSG: We always have to keep in mind the tribal identity and the special identity of the people of the NEr. We have to protect it. At the same time we have to bring progress to those who are living in the tribal and the non-tribal areas in the NEr. That perception was there but now we are thinking of connecting the capital of all the states with double lane roads or four lane roads. Wherever possible we are trying for air connectivity. In some states we are trying to develop the railway connectivity. In Tripura we will connect Agartala via Lamdieng broad gauge, then there is the Jiribam railway line. In Nagaland too, there is a request to construct from Dimapur to Dijit most probably. We are improving the gauge conversion connecting Arunachal Pradesh in the northern bank of Brahmaputra. So from all sides we are trying to connect be it via road, rail or air connectivity. With regard to air connectivity, we are constructing green field airfield to increasing the air connectivity in the NEr.
EP: If we talk of connectivity, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had announced the connectivity of the Arunachal Pradesh districts. We have done some survey and the work does not seem to be as it should have been, Sir your comments.
PSG: You see, the Government of India’s Prime Minister’s package is given for the Trans – Arunachal Highway. That highway will connect Arunachal Pradesh from one end to another. Because of the terrain, the work in the area is slow. I am going to Arunachal Pradesh probably in the next month, I will personally visit some areas and meet the engineers and discuss with officials as to why the work is not going on at the pace that it should be going on and find out their difficulty and review and expedite the ground work. See building roads in Arunachal Pradesh and in Assam is quite different. One has to appreciate those problems. The rainy season goes on for more than six months so the activity and the logistic problems are there. Also, moving the heavy machinery to the hilltops is also difficult. Still we want to construct the Trans- Arunachal Highway as soon as possible.
EP: Seeing China’s development on its side of the border, our border development can not be compared to theirs. Can you comment on this?
PSG: The Government of India is committed to the development of border areas, not only the China border area but other border areas also. However, the terrain on our side and the other side is a plateau in China. There is a natural advantage and we are at a disadvantage. We have to overcome those disadvantages and we have to fill the required infrastructure in border areas.
EP: At the workshop ‘The North East- Development Paradigms Meet’ at NEC Shillong, one of the speakers has said that “Manipur is worse than Kashmir”. Sir your comment?
PSG: I don’t agree, that is someone’s personal opinion. We have an elected government running there. There are some misunderstandings. There are frequent ‘bandh’ calls given by different tribes. Recently they have a problem where one tribal group was asking for the creation of a new state and other opposing it. These things are there. The honourable Chief Minister Ibobi Singh is trying sincerely to bring both the groups to the tables and I feel he will be successful because we have to live together and progress together. And we have to build our state. I think that thing has gone to the mind of the people. It is not a new problem, it is very old problem. Before independence, in the NEr, we had the problem and it is there till this day. However, the good thing is that the major insurgent groups because of the sincere efforts of the Central Government, are coming to the discussion table. So we are hoping for a better tomorrow because if we can bring these people to the national mainstream then peace and many other things will come.
EP: Two days back you were in Delhi when the Mynamar delegation had come. The Border Minister for the country had come. We have two border – ‘haats’ with them like the one in Moreh. Why can’t we have some more?
PSG: We are discussing this; we have some plans to open more border – ‘haats’. We are trying to build up some infrastructure. This is a international issue. We had a very friendly discussion with Gen Hag who is the border area development minister and they are also very interested in developing the infrastructure. Only opening the trade points while you don’t have the supporting infrastructure will not be congenial. We have already constructed the India Myanmar friendship road which is 130 kms long and another two roads are being constructed in the Myanmar side. I must say that the relation between the countries is developing. Both the countries are committed to improve bilateral relations which will help the citizens of both the countries.
EP: Since we are getting into good terms with the Myanmar government are there any talks on it not allowing hostile forces to operate from its land as in the case of Bangladesh?
PSG: They have very emphatically said that they will not allow any hostile group to use their land against India. They also want peace on both the sides. Definitely due to mutual cooperation, peace has come on both the Myanmar border and Bangladesh border also.
EP:Apart from the Stillwell road there is another road from Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh. Can we have connectivity to China from there?
PSG: You see we have to discuss the construction of an international road. With Myanmar a tri nation road connecting Myanmar, India and Thailand is at the final stage of discussion. Most probably we will be having the detailed project report and other things will follow. Principally the agreement is there.
EP: Sir there is massive outflow of students to other states such as Maharashtra and Karnataka. How can DoNER stop this outflow and have better educational institutions in the region providing better education?
PSG: That was true in the past. Now we have the RGIIM, two Central Universities in the NEr, one IIT, NIT in Silchar, the Government of India is building the NIFT. All these prime institutes are coming up in the region. So definitely the student from the NEr will get benefit. One has to fulfill the national requirement and I think many parts of the country do not have these kinds of institutions. Then we also have the RGI of Petrol Technologies at Sivsagar coming up. All these institutes are coming for the benefit of the students of the North East.
EP: Sir if you look at these national institutes, the intake of students from the North East is very low. One factor being that imparting of coaching and training to enter these institutes in the NEr is not there. How will DoNER tackle this?
PSG: You see IIT Guwahati is becoming one of the finest IIT’s in India. The intake in it from the North East is increasing. The presence of this institute is encouraging the students. The other facilities will develop and more people from the NEr will get a chance. This is because it is not only for the NEr but for the whole country. The purpose of having these institutes in the region is that our children are also talented and brilliant and they have to get some facilities. Those facilities will also come as the institutes have come.
EP: There is an apprehension that the NEC and DONER activities are overlapping. Would you care to clarify?
PSG: No, this is not true. NEC was created in 1972 as one of the regional planning bodies. Yes, NEC is performing its duty. The DoNER ministry was created later on in 2004 to give more impetus to development in the NEr. This is the only ministry in the Government of India which has regional focus. Our focus area is the 8 NEr states.
EP: Sir how do you balance regionalism and globalization?
PSG: You see every region has its regional aspiration and if these are fulfilled then it will strengthen our national unity. Our motto is unity among diversity. We have diversity like language. At the end of the day we are Indians.
EP: Sir what is your main goal as DoNER minister?
PSG: My main goal is to catch up with the rate of the national GDP growth that will encompass everything.
Harsh Jhunjhunwala
