North-Eastern
Region of India comprises an area of 262,230 sq km (101,250 sq miles) which is
about eight percent territory of the country. The region shares an
international border of 5,182 kilometres (3,220 miles) (about 99 percent of its
total geographical boundary) with several neighbouring countries – 1,395
kilometres (867 miles) Tibet in the north, 1,640 kilometres (1,020 miles) with
Myanmar in the east, 1,596 kilometres (992 miles) with Bangladesh in the
south-west, 97 kilometres (60 miles) with Nepal in the west, and 455 kilometres
(283 miles) with Bhutan in the North-West.
During the
British period, economy of North-Eastern Region was based on the exploitation
of resources such as tea, forest produce, crude oil etc. for the development of
other parts of the country. Post-independence, entire NorthEastern Region
became landlocked due to partition leading to closure of all the international
trade routes and sea links which were functional during British period. Though
the resource exploitation of this region stopped after independence, there was
no credible effort for speedy economic development and thereby economic
deprivation of the entire region continued.
Severe and
long standing economic deprivation anywhere leads to the intense competition
for scarce resources which generates feeling of alienation, hatred, and
prejudice among masses and ultimately culminates into the violence which takes
shape of ethnicity, regionalism, secessionist political movements etc.
North-Eastern Region cannot be the exception to this general observation.
For about 20
years after independence, North-Eastern Region was visualised through the
prismatic angle of law and order problem and solutions were mostly perceived in
the form of police and military actions. First serious effort to ensure
development of this region was done by establishment of North Eastern Council
(NEC) in 1971 which has been created by an Act of the Parliament. The North
Eastern Council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of
the North Eastern Region which consists of the eight States of Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
Creation of North Eastern Council has marked the beginning of a new chapter of
concerted and planned endeavour for the rapid development of the North Eastern
Region. Over the last thirty five years, NEC has been instrumental in setting
in motion a new economic endeavour aimed at removing the basic handicaps that
stood in the way of normal development of the region and has ushered in an era
of new hope in this backward area full of great potentialities.
In the year
1991, ‘Look East Policy’ was initiated by the Government of India as an effort
to cultivate economic and strategic relations with the nations of SouthEast
Asia which marked a strategic shift in India’s international perspective.
Look East
Policy was rigorously pursued by the Vajpayee Government (1998– 2004). During
this period Government of India created a separate ministry i.e. Ministry for
Development of North Eastern Region (MoDONER) in the year 2001 for speedy
development of North-Eastern Region.
The ‘Look
East Policy’ has been thoroughly overhauled under the able leadership of Shri
Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister of India so as to ensure action oriented,
project and outcome based policy which is now called as India’s ‘ActEast
Policy’. Hon’ble Prime Minister has given vision of “4 Cs” i.e. Culture,
Commerce, Connectivity and Capacity building in the North-Eastern Region. The
Government of India has shown strong commitment for rapid infrastructure and
economic development of this region in last six-seven years coupled with
development of international trade routes with ASEAN countries and neighbouring
Bangladesh through North Eastern Region. Opening of the international trade
routes which were closed for the North-Eastern region since the independence
will open the gates for economic development of entire region by creating
enormous opportunities of employment generation in various sectors.
As India is
committed for realising its target of becoming a $5 trillion economy in near
future, accelerating the development and unfolding the commercial and economic
potential of the North-Eastern Region has become extremely important. The
region has potential to become future hub of organic products, renewable
energy, international tourism, inland international commerce & trading and
gateway of India to ASEAN etc.
It is of
utmost importance that the civil servants from North-East and from the
Government of India dealing with the North-East policy implementation need to
be properly motivated and sensitised so that government policies and programmes
may be properly grounded and also may evoke positive responses from this region
so as to become more and more compatible with the local aspiration and
realities. In order to fulfil the purpose, Center for North East Studies has
been established at the Academy under the chairmanship of the Director, Lal
Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie and with the
support from North Eastern Council (NEC).
Broad
objectives of the Center for North East Studies are as follows:
1. To change the perception of North-Eastern Region from relatively isolated
and remote territory to future potential economic growth engine of the country.
2. To understand the cultural diversity and rich heritage of the North-Eastern
Region.
3. To evolve upon future international commercial potential of North-Eastern
Region.
4. To ensure capacity building and training of civil servants from All India
Services, State Civil Services, State Allied Services etc from all the states
of the North-East and civil servants from Government of India dealing with the
North-East policy and programme implementation.
5. To study best administrative & developmental practices in North East
States and also to expose the civil servants from North-East states to the best
practices in the mainland states.