(a) whether most of the North Eastern States are lagging behind from development point of view;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the reasons therefor; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government to develop the North Eastern States at par with rest of the States of the Country?
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
[Dr. Jitendra Singh]
a) Some States in the North Eastern Region have shown performance better than the National average on several developmental indicators such as per capita income, per capita monthly expenditure, growth rate, poverty etc.
b) A comparative table on the developmental indicators is annexed.
c) Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region is assigned the function of coordinating the efforts of the Government for development of North Eastern Region.
The Ministry also funds developmental initiatives through various schemes of North Eastern Council and through its schemes such as Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources and livelihood enhancements. Fifty Six Ministries/Departments earmarked Rs. 33,097.02 crore for the North Eastern States in 2016-17. North East is now better connected with broad gauging of the major rail networks in the entire region. Setup in 2014, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) is fully functional in all eight States and is now fast tracking road building activity in the entire North East. NHIDCL has also undertaken up gradation of neglected, but critical inter-state roads, a new scheme launched by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region. With improvement in infrastructure and facilities and viability gap funding to Alliance Air by North Eastern Council, there are more flights operating to and from the North East. 19 rivers of North East have been recently declared as National Waterways. Mobile and broadband connectivity in remotest region has received a major impetus under the Comprehensive Telecom Development Plan and heavy investment in power transmission with two projects covering all the 8 states have been undertaken. Under the new scheme of Swadesh Darshan – development of 8 circuits have so far been sanctioned. A new scheme exclusively for the North East to promote value chain based organic farming with emphasis on value addition and marketing has been launched.