Guwahati, June 30: North Eastern Council (NEC) Vision Document 2020 has projected a 12.95 percent growth per annum for the North Eastern States compared to the present seven percent and envisaged a required additional investment of Rs 13,29,891 crore.

NEC secretary Falguni Rajkumar disclosed this in Guwahati while speaking to newsmen on Monday and said that the Vision Document 2020 also plans to have planned involvement of public in development projects.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will formally release the Vision Document 2020 tomorrow.

From now on all the projects of the NEC will be guided through the Vision Document 2020.The Vision Document 20202 is expected to result in structural changes in the economy of the region and would lead to poverty eradication.

It is also aimed at maximizing self governance, said Rajkumar.

The NEC secretary informed that the Vision Document 2020 is a vision statement and said that its objective is the development of the region as a composite whole with emphasis on regional connectivity and integrating it with the rest of the country.

Infrastructure should be market driven so as to en-able the region to trade freely with neighbouring countries and become a hub of commerce and an economic bridge to the East ands South East Asia for trade, said Rajkumar while adding that the Vision Document 2020 had accorded highest priority to upgrading the transport infrastructure covering all modes in the regional railways, road, civil aviation and inland water transport.

We have observed that while in some states of the region panchayati raj system has been operating while in some others it is the traditional village bodies that are working.

The Vision Document 2020 plans to involve all these bodies in development activities to achieve the greater goal of 'well being' of the people, said Rajkumar.

He said that the Centre for North Eastern Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) was entrusted with the task of drawing up preliminary report for development of the region on the basis of dialogue with the people in the region, which was later finalized' by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy.

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