The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has constructed around 4,950 km of highways in the Northeast region in the last nine years, stated G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDNER) in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of the Parliament. The Ministry has incurred a cost of Rs 41,459 crore in constructing these highways.
In addition, about 77 projects have been sanctioned by the MoDNER under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and the North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS). The value of these projects is Rs 3372.58 crore.
Railways
The government mandated to connect all the state capitals of North East India (except Sikkim), to connect them with railways. In Sikkim, railways will reach Rangpo. In the previous nine years of the Modi government, 1618 km sections (377 km New line, 972 km Gauge conversion, and 269 km doubling) have been commissioned in the North East region at an average rate of 179.78 km/year.
Peace in the North East
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs data, multiple initiatives have been taken to restore peace in the Northeast region. As per the annual report of MHA, incidents of violence in the region have reduced from 824 in 2014 to 201 in 2022. Along similar lines, civilian deaths reduced from 212 to 7 in these incidents over the years. The extremists giving up arms and surrendering to the government authorities increased from 291 to 2,023 in these years.
However, there will be a surge in these numbers due to the Manipur ethnic violence this year. The Home Ministry has imposed a ban on several Meitei groups. About 175 deaths were reported in Manipur this year, and several thousand were displaced from their homes. The violence occurred just a month after the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) was revoked from 19 police stations in Manipur.