Jaitley seeks to bridge gap with North East India in Union Budget

PTI | livemint.com | New Delhi | THU, JUL 10 2014. 05 50 PM IST

With an allocation of Rs 53,706 crore in the ongoing fiscal for the North East, finance minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday sought to end the 'sense of isolation' of the region proposing a slew of proposals, including enhanced road and rail connectivity and fostering of organic farming. Underlining the importance attached by the Narendra Modi-led government to the region, the finance minister also mooted launching of a 24x7 television channel for the region apart from setting up a sports university in Manipur. "North Eastern Region has suffered from under development and a sense of isolation due to lack of proper connectivity," Jaitley said while presenting the Budget in Parliament.

In the Budget for 2014-15, the ministry of development of North Eastern region has been allocated Rs 2,332.78 crore, out of which Rs 2,306 crore is under plan and Rs26.78 crore non-plan. Stressing on the need for development of rail system in the region urgently to bridge the gap with the rest of the country, he said: “I intend to expedite the development of rail connectivity in the region and for this purpose I propose to set aside an additional sum of R s1,000 crore over and above the amount provided for in the interim Budget". The finance minister also emphasised on the need to tap potential for development of organic farming in India's North Eastern (NE) region. "With a growing global demand for organic food, people living in the North Eastern states can reap rich harvest from development of commercial organic farming. To facilitate this, I propose to provide a sum of Rs100 crore for this purpose in the current financial year," he said.