Year end review - 2019 : Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER)

Press Information Bureau *

Major Achievements of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) during the calendar year 2019 are as follows:

1. NLCPR/NESIDS/Special Packages/SIDF/HADP

o In December 2017, Government of India approved North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) to meet the gaps in social & physical infrastructure in NER.
o Total 211 projects costing Rs. 3124.72 crore have been implemented under the scheme of NESIDS/NLCPR/Special packages/SIDF/HADP by the Ministry in North Eastern Region.
o In-principle approval has been accorded for First Bamboo Industrial park to be set up in North East Region. It will be established at Manderdisa in Dima Hasao District of Assam in an area of 75 hectares at a cost of Rs 50 crore. This project is targeted to be completed by March 2021.
o Nine (09) meetings of IMC/NESIDS Committee held during the current calendar year for consideration of projects proposals received from NE States under NLCPR/NESIDS/Special Packages/SIDF.

2. North Eastern Council:

o The 68th Plenary of the North Eastern Council was held on the 8th & 9th September, 2019 at Assam Administrative Staff College, Guwahati Assam. During the course of the Plenary, many important decisions were taken on board in consultation with 8 states of the North East. In the Plenary, the Home Minister and Chairman, NEC suggested allocating thirty percent of the NEC’s allocation for new projects under the existing “Schemes of North Eastern Council” for focused development of deprived areas; deprived/neglected sections of society and emerging priority sectors and related issues.

o Destination North East, the event promoting and popularizing the North Eastern Region, culture, heritage and business opportunities was organised at Varanasi between 23-26 November 2019. The four-day event showcased the 8 sister states of Northeast India. There was representation from all the states and also from Central Government agencies. The event was inaugurated by the Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region in the presence of senior officers of MDoNER and NEC.

o The MOS (I/C), M/DoNER visited Mizoram to propagate Eco-tourism with wildlife sanctuary/parks, good scenic beauty, waterfalls, forests, culture, heritage, handicraft and business in the region. The visit also focused on significant aspect of the local community’s active participation towards increasing tourist-community cultural interfaces.

o The Prime Minister on 6th March, 2019 at Gulbarga, Karnataka inaugurated the Girls’ Hostel for the students of the North Eastern Region at Bangalore University.

o Construction of a hostel for the North East Students at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi: The cost of the project is Rs. 28.675 crore, out of which the NEC released a total of Rs. 11.01 crore. The project has commenced on ground and the present progress is approximately 10%. The project is likely to be completed by December, 2020.

o Purchasing of land for “Construction of Hostel for the students of North East States” at Rohini, Delhi: A sum of Rs 2.50 crore for purchasing of land measuring 1990 Sqm for construction of a hostel for the NE students at Rohini, New Delhi was sanctioned. The land possession certificate from the DDA, Delhi has been received.

o Establishment of the NEC Convention Centre at Dwarka: The Government, through NEC, proposes to set up the NEC Convention Centre at Sector 13, Dwarka, New Delhi. The Centre would have an auditorium of 1000 seating capacity with banquet hall, exhibition space, museum, library, food court, office space, car parking space and provisions for eight guest rooms and three staff quarters. The DDA has allotted land measuring 5341.75 Sqm.

o Inauguration of Administrative Building of CBTC at Bernihaat, Assam was made by the Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.

o North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS): Under NERSDS, NEC undertakes up gradation of important and strategic inter-state roads which were not properly maintained by either of the two States. During 2019-20, 10 new projects for an amount 882 crore have been sanctioned till now and projects worth Rs. 118 crore are under process for sanction.

o The Scheme of Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources NLCPR (Central) has been transferred to NEC for implementation during April, 2018. During the period 2019-20, an amount of Rs. 217.41 crore has been released under the said scheme for projection of MajuliIsland, Agartala-Akhaura rail line project etc.

o Allocation and Expenditure: Against Budget Estimates of Rs. 1476.00 crore in FY 2019-20, the actual expenditure of Rs. 867.32 crore has been made as on 13.12.2019 achieving 58.75% of BE.

o Project completion: During 2019-20, total 78 projects and Non-projects with an approved cost of Rs. 964.25 crore have been completed.

o Release of Rs. 1 crore each to the 14 Aspirational Districts: During the 67th Plenary, it was decided to provide Rs. 1 crore to each Aspirational Districts located in the NER to enable them to make substantial progress on the various indicators. The NEC had released a total of Rs. 14 crore to the 14 Aspirational Districts of the NE states.

o Foundation stone was laid for the office Building of MDoNER CPSU NERMAC by MOS (I/C), MDoNER at Guwahati.

3. NORTH EASTERN STATE ROAD INVESTMENT PROGRAMME (NESRIP) (Renamed as NE Road Sector Development Scheme – EAP)

o 12 projects of upgradation of National Highways in 7 states of North East having total length of 432.2 km with an estimated cost of Rs 2144.56 crores is under progress with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and during this year all the projects have made a very good progress.

o During the Calendar Year 2019, MDoNER had supported 21 externally aided projects in the State of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura in various Sectors [Environment, Water, Health, Tourism, Education, Power, Rural, Road, Medical, Agricultural.] with a total project cost of Rs. 20,000 crores from various Multilateral Development Banks (MDB).

4. North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP)

North Eastern Region Community Resource Management Project (NERCORMP) is a livelihood project funded by Government of India. The third phase of the Project implementation started in June, 2014 for a period of 6 years i.e. upto 31st March, 2020. The current phase i.e. Phase-III of the project covered Tirap (Undivided) and Changlang districts of Arunachal Pradesh; Churachandpur and Chandel districts of Manipur.

The project current status as recorded below-
Particulars Target Achievement
State to be covered 2 2
Districts to be covered 4 4
Village to be covered 1,177 1212
Household to be covered 58,850 58789
Natural Resource Management Group (NaRM-Gs) 1,570 1383
Self Help Group (SHG) 3,920 3494
NaRM-G Cluster Association 60 123
SHG Federation 175 134

During the FY 2019-20 [Till October, 2019] Funds to the tune of Rs. 96 crores had been disbursed/utilized for the Scheme

5. North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP)

NERLP, a World Bank aided project launched in 2012, was implemented by Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), to improve rural livelihoods. The project covered 1,645 villages under 58 development blocks across 11 districts of 4 states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The Project has concluded on 30.09.2019 and is running on an extended time upto 31.12.2019 for completion of closure related activities, mainly audit of the scheme.

The major achievements of the project are as under:

i. 10462 boys and girls were trained in various job skills.
(ii) 2,92,889 households were covered through formation of 28,154 Self Help Groups (SHGs) and 1,212 Village Federations, as well as formation of 1599 Community Development Groups (CDG).
(iii) 97% of the members of SHGs formed by the project have Savings Bank Accounts with a cumulative savings to the tune of Rs.60.51 crores.
(iv) Project has released a Community Investment Fund (CIF) of Rs.319.15 crores to 28,154 SHGs.
(v) A total number of 5,535 SHGs have availed bank linkage with a total sanctioned bank loan amount of Rs.58.19 crores. The average loan amount per SHG from Bank is Rs.1.02 Lakh.

(b): State-wise details of people skilled are as under:

STATE NUMBER OF PEOPLE TRAINED
Mizoram 1601
Nagaland 1438
Sikkim 3491
Tripura 3932
Total Trained 10462

6. NORTH EASTERN HANDICRAFTS AND HANDLOOMS DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LTD (NEHHDC)

o NEHHDC developed 30 innovative Handicrafts and Handlooms products in its Craft Promotional Centre (CPC) and at clusters in the North Eastern Region.
o NEHHDC launched one Online Shopping portal in June 2019 for marketing of North East Handloom and Handlooms Products.
o NEHHDC opened one Showroom at the Ekta Mall, Kevadia near the Statue of Unity, Gujrat and has showcased a wide range of Handicraft and Handloom products of North Eastern Region.
o NEHHDC introduced 35 Vendors for supplying Handicraft and Handlooms Products.
o NEHHDC conducted many training programmes for waivers/artisans in NER last year.

7. North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd (NERAMAC)

–The major activities of NERAMAC from 01/01/2019 to 15/12/2019 are given as under.

o Procurement and supply of products of the NE region like Ginger, Large cardamom, pineapple, pera, kiwi etc.
o Agri-input supply business to the Govt. of Assam. (Black Gram, Green Gram, Vermicompost, Tissue Culture Orchid, Black Pepper rooted cutting, tissue culture banan seeding etc.)
o Retail sale of purchased /packaged products like Turmeric power, Pineapple Squash, Kiwi Squash , kiwi jam, Black Pepper Power, Large cardamom, Black rice etc
o NERAMAC organised/ participated in many events /exhibitions/seminars all over the country for branding North east agri-horticulture products.
o Application for GI tagging for the following 10 exotic produces of NER has been filed (ChakHao, Black Cherry, Dekang, Sweet Cucumber, Long Cavendish Banana, Dalle Chilli, Outanga, Letuka, Jackfruit, Sohiong).
o Registered 75 nos of FPOs/FPCs under MOVCDNER and 16 Entrepreneurs of NER complying FSSAI with NERAMAC for catering market linkages.
o Conducted training/workshop/seminars/Post GI Activities etc for the farmers and entrepreneurs updating them on latest trends/techniques of marketing so that they can develop and market competitive products/produces. Approx 600 farmers have been benefitted out of the training/workshop/seminars.
o Promoted organically grown produces/products under umbrella brand ‘ONE’ Organic North East.

8. NORTH EASTERN DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION LTD(NEDFi).

o During the period January 1, 2019 to December 16, 2019, the Corporation extended total sanctions & disbursements of Rs.315.72 crore and Rs.281.55 crore respectively. Various sectors financed were microfinance, healthcare, tourism & hospitality, handlooms & handicrafts, food processing etc. Till December 16, 2019, cumulative sanction & disbursement were Rs.5285 crore and Rs.4047 crore respectively.

o The Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (M-DoNER) jointly with North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) & Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has set up the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), a dedicated Venture Fund for the North East Region

o NEDFi conducted 3 nos. of training programmes for 71 nos. representatives from various NGOs/ MFIs.

o Corporation conducted a total no. of 16 Business meets with participation of over 1000 nos. Participants from all eight States of NER for dissemination of information on its schemes and programmes.

o The Corporation facilitating disbursement of subsidies under the Transport Subsidy Scheme, Central Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme, Central Interest Subsidy Scheme, Freight Subsidy Scheme & Central

Comprehensive Insurance Subsidy Scheme to industrial units of all the eight NER States. The details of disbursement under various schemes during the year are given below:

CENTRAL SUBSIDIES:- (Rs. in Cr.)
Disbursement from 01.01.2019 to 16.12.2019
Scheme Amount
Transport Subsidy 529.34
Central Capital Investment Subsidy 499.67
Central Interest Subsidy 18.12
Central Comprehensive Insurance Subsidy 18.45
Freight Subsidy 90.63
Total 1156.21

o NEDFi under its CSR initiative facilitated Capacity Building through exposure visit and training to 691 nos. beneficiaries by conducting 25 nos. of programmes.