As the Eleventh Plan gets set for final approval, news from the north-east is not too pleasant. For, the gap between development of the north-east and the rest of the country has been widening. According to the Vision 2020 document, prepared by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy on behalf of the North-Eastern Council (NEC), per capita gross state domestic product (GSDP) of north-east India, comprising eight states, is 31% less than the national average. The states are Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim. In 2004-05, the entire region?s GSDP, a measure of the standard of living of people, stood at Rs 18,027 against the national average of Rs 25,968.
Even within the region, there are vast differences between those living in the plains and hills. ?At the time of independence, the per capita income in the undivided state of Assam was higher than the national average by 4 per cent. In 1990-91, the region?s per capita income in current prices was lower than the national average by 20 per cent and this difference increased to 31% by 2004-05,? says the draft document, which has been put up on NEC?s website for public debate.
Within the region, Assam has the lowest per capita income at Rs 15,661, 40% lower than the national average.
Commenting on lack of economic activity in the region, the document said in the three states where per capita income was higher than the country average, there was an ?overwhelming dependence? of the population on government for generating incomes.
?To reach the all-India level of per capita income in 2020, the GSDP of the region will have to grow at 11.8 per cent per year on average, or at 10.5 per cent in per capita terms,? it says.
Growth acceleration in phases during three Plan periods has been suggested to achieve the 10.5% target — at 7.9% during the 11th Plan, 11.34% during the 12th Plan period and 13.31% during the 13th Plan period (2017-22).
Despite being rich in natural resources, the north-east, battered by insurgency and weak governance, lags behind the rest of the country in other development indicators too, like road length, access to healthcare and power consumption — all of which are also below the national average.
Calling for a participatory development strategy, the vision document seeks a paradigm shift in the planning process from investment allocation to ?allocation determined by the needs of the people?. Only then can the people of the region live in peace and prosperity, not in seclusion, backwardness and a sense of alienation that they have been facing for far too long.