Source: The Sangai Express
New Delhi, December 19:
The insurgent groups should give up violence as a means to achieve goals, Minister for North East Development and Tribal Affairs PR Kyndiah said.
"The dissatisfied group of people are also our brethren.
They should express their views through nonviolence," he said in a pre-Christmas message.
"They should follow the Gandhian principle of nonviolence as a means to express viewpoints," he said while reminding that only peace can ensure a sustainable growth.
He said "peace is a necessary condition for development anywhere, be it the North East, Andhra Pradesh or Jharkhand".
The Minister identified slow infrastructure development and unemployment of educated youths to be the root cause of the insurgency problem.
Infrastructure development would go a long way in bringing peace to the region, he said and added that funds for development assistance should be strictly linked with the extent of utilisation.
He said the whole of the North-East region, by and large, is a peaceful region and insurgency existed only in some parts of it.
"When we deal with the region, we deal with the various ethnic tribes and their various problems," he said and added peace could be achieved through rapid economic development and pumping large investments into the region's economy.
The budgetary allocation from the Non Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) to the region has been increased by 18.18 per cent to Rs 650 crore during the current fiscal from Rs 550 crore in the previous fiscal.
The Ministry of Development of North East Region (DONER) have already utilised 55 per cent of the allocation till the end of September, 2004.The enhanced funds would be spent on key sectors like irrigation and flood control, roads and bridges, education, health and drinking water supply.