Skip to content Skip to navigation

Annual conference of NEEA begins

The 17th Annual Conference of the North Eastern Economic Association (NEEA) has kicked off at Itanagar at Rajiv Gandhi University, Doimukh in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday. Speaking at the event, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki said that the government spending of scarce resource needs to be a judicious mix, with primary focus on the social sector - health and education and Physical Infrastructure - roads, rail and airways and emphasized on innovation in government spending on delivery of public services. Tuki informed that accordingly the state government has aligned government spending on the philosophy – Innovative Government Expenditure.

To prove his point he cited the popular and innovative Universal Health Insurance Scheme.

“We felt that expenditure on the health sector needs to be enhanced but the benefits of such expenditure must be qualitative. The challenge was that quality couldn’t be ensured with the existing health infrastructure. Therefore to provide immediate and quality health care to each and every citizen of the State, we came up with the scheme - first of its kind in India, with a cover of Rs 3 Lakhs per annum with as many as 60 hospitals across India empanelled,” Tuki said.

He informed that the government introduced a Health Cess by increasing Excise and VAT on alcohol and VAT on tobacco products to finance the benevolent health security scheme.

Further, low cost generic drug stores in all district hospitals in convergence with the Govt of India’s Jan Aushadhi Scheme have been started from this year besides procuring machinery and equipment for all the 5 General Hospitals and 12 district Hospitals in the state to strengthen the health delivery system.

Zeroing on the two themes adopted by NEEA for this year’s conference – Labour and Health – the Chief Minister highlighted the various initiatives of the state government like those taken by the Arunachal Pradesh Building & Other Construction Workers Welfare Board for welfare of workers and ugradation of hospitals and health centers besides establishing nursing schools.

“I am very happy that the NEEA has taken up these two very vital issues for deliberation and discussion in its two-day 17th annual conference. I assure you, the state government is also alive to these two issues,” he said.

The Chief Minister expressed gratitude to the Fourteenth Finance Commission for according importance to fiscal capacity, with indicators of cost, and revenue disabilities, and assigning a combined weight of 72.5 percent as against 57.5 percent assigned by the Thirteenth Finance Commission. Under the new devolution formula, share of Arunachal Pradesh in Central Taxes is much higher and the state government can put the resources to good use for economic development, he said.

Though a late starter, he expressed pride that Arunachal Pradesh is progressing at a very rapid pace and is going through a massive transition.

“In order to improve the economic sector and ensure employability of our youths, it is pertinent to boost Industry in the state. The government is paying special attention to this sector and has proposed to establish pilot project on Food Processing Industries under public sector,” he said while informing that subsidies would be provided to unemployed engineers for setting up manufacturing units and small scale industries with support from the state-run APEX Bank.

Terming connectivity as a major factor for any economic activity, the Chief Minister highlighted various ongoing projects to improve it like the 1600 Km Trans Arunachal Highway, district headquarter roads and cement concrete township roads.

He expressed hope that the advanced landing grounds at Tezu, Mechukha, Pasighat, Ziro, and Vijaynagar would be completed by next year while works on the Greenfield airport at Hollongi would start soon.

Citing sufficient power generation as another important factor for economic growth of the state, the Chief Minister said the 110 MW Pare HEP and 600 MW Kameng HEP will be Commissioned by next year and the power needs of the state will be met from these.

He lauded the NEEA for organizing the conference here stating that at such times research discourses at the academic level to understand the emerging societal changes, its ramifications on other aspects such as political, economy, youth, etc becomes very important and necessary.  

The inaugural function was also attended by RGU Vice Chancellor Pro Tamo Mibang, Prof Barbara Harris-White, Oxford University (UK), Prof Saundariya Borbora, IIT Guwahati and president NEEA, Dr Indraneel Bhowmik, Tripura University and Secretary NEEA, former Vice Chancellor of RGU Prof Atul Sharma and delegates from various states of the region. 

 

Author info

Abhinav Verma's picture

Itanagar!

Add new comment

Random Stories

Tragic Death of Kaushik Das

19 Jan 2013 - 6:51pm | Rajen Barua
Friends of Assam and Seven Sisters (FASS) mourns the sudden death of Kaushik Das (Jipu) of Guwahati in an accident on railway in Guwahati  on Jan 17.   We wish that  his soul...

Rehabilitation bid to surrendered militants

15 Jul 2012 - 4:53am | Anup Biswas
As a proactive measure to resurrect the life of the persons who bid good bye to militancy and as an effort to amalgamate them with the mainstream, the Haflong based Assam Riffles setup under the...

Memorial meeting on Natun Dainik and CP Saikia

6 Aug 2013 - 12:57am | Nava Thakuria
The employees of Natun Dainik, an influential Assamese daily newspaper of yesteryears will remember Chandra Prasad Saikia (popularly known among his follower journalists as CPS), its founder editor...

Nagaon town roads turn into path-holes

11 Jul 2009 - 8:40am | bishwajeetsinha
Most of the roads connecting Nagaon with Jagi Road, Dimapur, Tezpur are in such a dire state that travelling through these are becoming to be real nightmare for citizens. The condition of NH, SH as...

Other Contents by Author

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki paid floral tributes to Indira Gandhi with fellow Congress workers at her Samadhi Shakti Sthal at New Delhi today. State Mahila President led by Kamla linggi, Vice President Modi Mai, Nabam Yakum and General Secretary APMCC Sang Droima called on AICC President Sonia Gandhi and appraised her on the political stability of the state under the dynamic and good leadership of Nabam Tuki as chief minister. They also affirmed that rank and file of congress family in general and Mahila Congress in particular is with Tuki. After a patient hearing, Sonia Gandhi gave a positive nod and asked the congress family to be united.
Chief Minister Nabam Tuki  called on the President of India Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday. Tuki gave a detailed outline of the programmes and policies being implemented by the state government for welfare of the people and development of the state. He also updated the President on the progress of the Prime Minister’s Special Package besides implementation of all central government and state government flagship programmes.Intently going through the Chief Minister’s detailed information, the President appreciated the state government’s initiatives, of which he said many were unique and novel. Mukherjee especially lauded the Chief Minister’s Universal Health Insurance Scheme, terming it...
Amid an escalating political crisis that cripples Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister Nabam Tuki met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday evening and submitted a letter requesting the Centre’s intervention to the Chakma Hajong issue. In his letter, Tuki called the verdict a big blow to the people saying that the statewide agitations would not die down. He said, “there has been a perception and rightly so that the socio-cultural fabric of Arunachal Pradesh will be considerably altered if this order is implemented,” he pointed. According to Tuki, the Chakma and Hajong refugees, who had migrated from Bangladesh to India during the period 1964-69, were settled by the then Assam...
After a brief silence political mercury is on the rise in Arunachal Pradesh where  Pema Khandu resigned as tourism minister on Tuesday. The high voltage drama took place in Itanagar when Chief Minister Nabam Tuki is on a visit to New Delhi. Khandu pulled out of the cabinet alleging the Chief Minister’s inefficiency to deal with the current political crisis and failure to implement the promises.       In yet another related development, former minister Kumar Waii held Chief Minister responsible for the current political crises. Addressing a press conference in Itanagar on Tuesday, Waii demanded the Chief Minister’s resignation. 
The Arunachal Pradesh government has released an amount of Rs 44 crore to the Panchayati Raj institutions for developmental projects at the grass root as per their respective developmental plans chalked out on need basis. Chief Minister Nabam Tuki who releases of the amount on Monday observed that the third tier of government works the closest with the rural population and therefore has the first hand understanding of the needs and potentials of the rural areas.“It is the commitment of our Government for devolution of the 3Fs to the local self Government and accordingly we have concentrated on requirements of the basic services in all the villages,” he...
During his three days visit to Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa landed at some of the tourism related infrastructures on Monday and came to know the huge potential for tourism, particularly for eco and adventure tourism. He said that to harness these bounties and for tourism to flourish, in addition to good roads, the State must have good tourism infrastructures, such as guesthouses, restaurants and other wayside amenities.Visiting the Presidential Suite of the tourist guesthouse, near the Circuit House, which is under repair for some electrical faults, he advised the officials to ensure that regular checks are carried out of electrical appliances and maintenance done.He...
Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa called upon the Lamas, Civil Society to put in concerted effort in improving the literacy rate of the district.During his interaction with the local residents in Tawang, Rajkhowa urged the NGOs running schools to impart discipline, punctuality and commitment amongst the students.Sharing his observation that there is not a single college for higher education, the he called upon the Civil Society and district administration to work for starting a college for Arts Stream at the earliest.He said that many children will not go for higher education if such facilities are not made available in the District itself. With higher education, the society will move...
Arunachal Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa visited the remote border post of Bumla in Tawang District .Going by the goodwill traditions, he placed a stone on the ‘Heap of Stones’ as a gesture towards strengthening Sino-India Friendship.Interacting with the Army officers and personnel at ‘Maitri Sthal’, Bumla, 33 kms from Tawang, Rajkhowa lauded them for defending the motherland at the difficult and harsh terrain located at the height of 16500 feet.Commanding Officer of 14 Punjab Regiment, Col Rajesh, Sena Medal, briefed the Governor on Bumla Pass and activities in ‘Maitri Sthal’ towards Sino-India Friendship.   Earlier, on the way to the Border Post, he paid homage to Param Vir Chakra...
Governor JP Rajkhowa graced the ‘Sampriti’, a cultural presentation of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam at Raj Bhawan on Saturday with a focus on cultural bond.In his address, he hoped that the event will not only promote the cultural assets of the both the States but also revive the rich cultural heritage. He also hoped that such events will go a long way in strengthening the amity between the age-old neighbours.Underscoring that cultural exchange programme will provide more understanding of each other’s culture, values and traditions, which will in turn cement good relationship, the Governor suggested that next programme must be in Assam so that artists of Arunachal Pradesh can showcase their...
Legislators Nyamar Karbak and Dikto Yekar were sworn in as Parliamentary Secretaries by Chief Minister Nabam Tuki here in a simple ceremony in Itanagar on Wednesday. Both Karbak and Yekar took the oath of office and secrecy in presence of Health Minister Rajesh Tacho, legislators Nikh Kamin, Kumsi Sidisow, Tatung Jamoh and Jambey Tashi, APCC President Padi Richo, the Chief Secretary, the DGP and host of officials and guests.The newly sworn in Parliamentary Secretaries would be given their respective portfolios soon. According to sources,the four Parliamentary Secretaries who were dropped are Mutchu Mithi from 43-constituency Roing, C. T. Mein from 46-constituency Chowkham, P.D. Sona from 33...