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Report on North-East India

The Development Paradigm

M Biswanath SinhaContact: [email protected]


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DecadeIndia/State/ 1901-

19111911-1921

1921-1931

1931-1941

1941-1951

1951-1961

1961-1971

1971-1981

1981-1991

199200

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

INDIA 5.75 -0.31 11.00 14.22 13.31 21.64 24.80 24.66 23.86 2ArunachalPradesh NA NA NA NA NA NA 38.91 35.15 36.83 2Nagaland 46.76 6.55 12.62 6.04 12.30 73.35 39.88 50.05 56.08 6Manipur 21.71 10.92 16.04 14.92 12.80 35.04 37.53 32.46 29.29 3Mizoram 10.64 7.90 26.42 22.81 28.42 35.61 24.93 48.55 39.70 2Tripura 32.48 32.59 25.63 34.14 24.56 78.71 36.28 31.92 34.30 1Meghalaya 15.71 7.21 13.83 15.59 8.97 27.03 31.50 32.04 32.86 2

Assam 16.99 20.48 19.91 20.40 19.93 34.98 34.95 23.36 24.24 1Source: Provisional Census data, Census of India, 2001.

Special Physiographic Characteristics of Northeast Region: The entire region of North-East can be broadly divided into two characteristic zones- Mountainous and Plain. Althoughdistinguished in the altitude differences, both the mountain and plain are closely interrelated interms of natural resource sharing and economic flow. Thus, classifying the region in just twocategories might be misleading. The region in particular suffers from in-built difficulties of itsown, which renowned economist Dr. N.S. Jodha attributes as the follows:Inaccessibility: It is a constraint because of logistical problems of utilisation and recycling ofresources is difficult.Fragility: Steep slops make any activity difficult in mountain. This prevents large-scale land use.Marginality: This leads to low pay-off option and high utilisation cost of resources.Diversity: It is indicated by heterogeneity and is manifested by physical and biological differencesover short distances.

Niche: Special situational patterns like irrigation, hydropower potential, timber, tourism, mineralsand medicinal plants etc are dominant.

Mr. Jayanta Bandopadhay, another scholar later described the distinguishing features of themountains with the help of what he called mountain characteristics. He emphasised on cognitiveintegration and correlations of more other levels. The characteristics he ascribed as typical ofregion are as below:

Primary characteristics:

Vertical formation and slope.Environmental Characteristics:

Structural fragility, Climatic/ biological diversity and Ecological complexity.

Socio-economic Characteristics: Low level of accessibility, Restricted scope for land development, Climatic advantages/hazards, Rich water resources and hydro potential, Ethnic and cultural diversity and


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Proneness to marginalisation.Land and Biodiversity of North East IndiaThe North East India is rich in biological diversity and contains more than one-third of thecountrys total biodiversity. The region is considered one of the 18 hotspots of the world. Theregion has at least 7500 flowering plants, 700 orchids, 58 bamboos, 64 citrus, 28 conifers, 500

mosses, 700 ferns and 728 lichen species. The region is equally rich in faunal diversity. Anestimated 3624 species of insects, 50 molluscs, 236 fishes, 64 amphibians, 137 reptiles, 541 birdsand 160 mammalian species have been identified so far. The region is also rich in terms ofgenetic and ecosystem diversity. Some of the important gene pools of citrus, banana and rice arereported to have originated from this region. The ecosystem diversity of the region ranges fromtropical ecosystems to alpine ecosystems in the Himalayan ranges and also includes wetlands,flood plains, riverines and aquatic ecosystems. A wide variety of man-modified ecosystems suchas jhum (one way of shifting Cultivation) agro-ecosystem, wet rice agro-ecosystem and alderbased agro-ecosystem contribute towards the rich ecosystem diversity. An estimated 33% of thetotal biological diversity of the region is endemic (Barik at al).

Table 3: Status of Forest Cover in Northeast India (area in sq km)State Geographical

area

Total forest

cover(FSI, 2000)

Recorded

forestcover(as perState Govtrecord)

Government

forest*

Community

used/controlled forest**

ArunachalPradesh

83,743 68,847 (82.2%) 51,540 18,593 32,949

Assam 78,438 23,688 (30.1%) 30,708 21,520 9,188Manipur 22,327 17,384 (77.8%) 15,154 5,634 9,520Meghalaya 22,429 15,633 (69.6%) 9,496 903 8,593Mizoram 21,081 18,338 (86.9%) 15,935 7,077 8,858Nagaland 16,579 14,164 (85.4%) 8,629 1,163 7,462

Tripura 10,486 5,745 (54.7%) 6,293 4,097+2,195#

--

Total 2,55,083 1,63,799 1,37,755 61,180 76,570

(Source: MoEF, NE RO, Shillong, 2000)N.B.: (a) * Government forests are classified or recorded under three categories, viz., ReservedForest, Protected Forest and Unclassed Forest.(b) **Community used/controlled forests as in Arunachal Pradesh are generally termed asUnclassed State Forests (USF) in the official parlance.(c) #Unclassified Government Forests in Tripura are not necessarily owned or controlled by thecommunities; hence shown as Govt. Forest.

Natural Resources:Agriculture: In the whole NE region agriculture system is predominantly traditional. The overallgeographical land-to-man ratio for the NE region (0.81 Hectares/Person) is much higher than theNational average (0.39 Hectares/Person). This could be attributed to the fact that the areascovered by hills in this region are more in comparison to the national average. Among the NEStates the geographical land-to-man ratio is highest in Arunachal Pradesh (9.69 Hectares/Person)and lowest in Assam (0.35 Hectares/Person). About 80 % of the farmers in the NE regionbelongs to the small (< 1.44 ha) and marginal (< 0.40 ha) category. Over the years the averageland holding is reducing owing to the increase in population in a rapid pace.


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Although, land-to-man ratio is high, the average size of land holding for the NE region (1.60 ha)is almost same as the national average in India (1.57 ha). Among the NE States the average sizeof land holding is highest in Nagaland (6.92 ha) and lowest in Tripura (0.97 ha). About 55.6 % ofthe holding are of size of only 0.43 hectare or less. This is primarily because hilly terrainconstitutes nearly two-thirds of the regions geographical area. Subsistence farming, therefore, is

predominant in the NE region and there is hardly any commercial surplus. The percentage ofcultivable area over the geographical area in the region (24.69 %) is much less than the nationalaverage (59.22 %). Again, there is a not similar pattern among the states Meghalaya havingabout 47% of its geographical area under cultivation against merely 3.5% in Arunachal Pradesh.

The percentage utilisation of cultivable area in the NE region (62.04 %) is less than the nationalaverage (73.05 %) and mono cropping is the predominant method of cultivation. In the absenceof multi-cropping little or no surplus is generated in the agricultural sector. The utilisation islowest in Meghalaya (19.18 %) and highest in Tripura (89.35 %). Among all the NE States,Assam has the highest area both in terms of available cultivable land and net sown land.

Forests: Forest constitutes about 64% of the total geographical area of the North EasternRegion. The percentage of forest area is highest in Mizoram (86.9%) and lowest in Assam

(30.1%). The percentage of forest area in other North East states is illustrated in Table No 3. Inthe interior, timber and minor forest produce are the principal source of livelihood. Theownership pattern of forests also differs in the different states of the region. In the hilly regions,the ownership rests with the local communities and, therefore, the proportion of reserved forestsin those hill states is quite small. In view of the alarming rate of extraction of timber andresulting deforestation in the forests in the North-East, there has been a blanket ban on loggingand non-forest activities in forest land by the Supreme Court of India in the recent past.

Land: On account of lower population density the overall land-to-man ratio in the region is quitefavorable. The average size of operational land holding is however, quite small. Majority of thefarmers from this region belong to small and marginal category due to the fact mentioned above.Unfavorable terrain and recurring floods etc are major obstacles for development of agriculture.

According to the report of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE, September 1999) onland utilization, out of the 25.51 lakh hectare of the total geographical area of the region, 22.48lakh hectare (86.12 %) is available for various types of land uses. Of the total reporting area, netarea sown forms only 17.38 % whereas at the national level it is about 46.64%. As mentionedabove the geographical features of this region is very peculiar and that is why a qualitativecomparison with land utilization pattern in the country might not give a fair picture. For instanceas per CMIE report a total of 52.38 % of the regions area (in 1995-96) was under forests asagainst 22.57 % in the country, and this cant be put to cultivation, in most of the cases.

Mineral resources: The North-East region has got a considerable natural and mineral resourcereserves. It hosts the countrys 37% of river waters, 20% of the hydrocarbon (oil & gas)potential, large quantities of low ash coal resources, limestone and dolomite deposits as well as afew other minerals, yet to be explored in its full potential. Water resources could prove to be very

vital in the economic development of the area. The following Table shows the major naturalresource base of the region.

Table 4: Mineral Reserves in North-East Region (in million tons)

Coal Lime-stone Oil & Gas Clay Dolomite Quartzite Graph

Proven 327.268 181.283 - 0.5947 - - -


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Probable 253.36 888.505 - 20.1427 - - -

Possible 450.978 4412.88 2323 93.565 246.97 19.668 84.9

Handloom: Handlooms is a rich village industry in most of the states in the region. This in most

of the cases, is a hereditary occupation. Some of the handloom products, which are known fortheir excellent craftsmanship are - carpets of Arunachal Pradesh, Muga silk products of Assam,Lashingpheeof Manipur, Shawls of Nagaland and Mizoram. Other common handloom productssuch as bed Sheets, Scurf, Jackets are produced in almost all the States of the region.

Sericulture: Sericulture comprises the culture of four varieties of silk worms viz. Eri, Muga, OakTassar and Mulberry. While the Oak Tassar is a new introduction in the region, culture of theother three is traditional from time immemorial. Ericulture is not an organized commercial activityas in the case of mulberry. Ericulture is prevalent mainly amongst the indigenous people i in hilldistricts of Assam and northern hill areas of Meghalaya. Lower Brahmaputra Valley is thetraditional home of eri spinners and weavers producing bulk of eri yarn and fabric. In the lowerBrahmaputra valley itself nearly 9000 women are directly or indirectly associated with eri yarnand cloth production. In Arunachal Pradesh ericulture is practiced in the foothills and plain areas.The eri cocoons are utilized locally. In Meghalaya, ericulture is practiced in Ri-Bhoi and Garo Hills.In Nagaland people in the plain areas practice ericulture.

The total annual production of raw silk in the North-East Region is about 877,000 kg. The highestproduction of raw silk is highest in Assam (527,000 kg) followed by Manipur (187,000 kg) andMeghalaya (131,000 kg). The golden silk, Muga culture is practiced traditionally in theBrahmaputra valley of Assam. Assam alone produces around 85,000 kg of raw muga. InArunachal Pradesh also mugaculture has been newly introduced. Meghalaya is a good source ofbasic seed cocoons especially from areas bordering Assam. Other states like Mizoram, Manipurand Tripura also have introduced Mugaculture. Oak Tassar culture is a new introduction in thestates of the region. In all the states a number of Oak Tassar Centres have been established.Assam is the fifth largest producer of mulberry silk in India.

Fisheries: Assam has the largest surface water area among the NE states and produces the

largest quantity of fishes in the region. In 1990, the land fish production in the NE region wasabout 90 thousand tones, or over 6 % of the production in the country. The total freshwaterresource of the region is estimated at 15,728 km of river and canal; almost 89000 hectares ofreservoirs; about 150000 hectares of streams and lakes and almost 85000 hectares of tanks andponds. But the high demand of the region is not met from the production and large quantity offish is transported into the region from other states particularly from Andhra Pradesh everyday.

Tea: Though Tea was grown in different places of upper Assam earlier, today it is grown inalmost all parts of Assam. The Barak Valley in Assam also has its own significant share in thissector. In Tripura there are 55 registered tea estates. Tea has gained growing commercialimportance from early part of the 20th century and remarkable expansion of it has taken place.Assam contributed nearly 74% of the total foreign exchange earnings of India in 1966. Assamhas 1196 registered tea estates. It is significant that the Guwahati Tea Auction Centre,established in 1970 is the third largest Auction Centre in the world, in terms of total tea sold. Inrecent times a revolutionary concept of kitchen-garden tea plantation is spreading very fast. Thisconcept is getting popularity and the number of small gardens is about to touch a five-digit figurenow.

Macro-Economy of North-East Region:The main economy of the North-East region is dependent on agriculture and allied activities. Dueto under-development of industry and service sector, there has not been much change in themain occupancy of the region in last decades.


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In comparison to the hilly areas the valleys are economically more developed in the region andthe Brahmaputra valley being the nerve centre of economic activities. The indigenous peopledominate the population composition in four states viz. Meghalaya, Nagaland and ArunachalPradesh and Mizoram. There are differences among the seven states in the North-East regionwith respect to their resource endowments, level of industrialization as well as infrastructural

facilities. The industrial sector has mainly grown around tea, timber in Assam and mining, sawmills and plywood factories in other parts of the region. The economy of the region is stillprimarily agrarian but its full potential is yet to be exploited. Since agriculture and industry hasnot really taken off in spite of the potential in the form of vast unexploited resource baseavailable in the region, the pressure for employment is on the service sector.

The contribution of agriculture to state domestic income is much higher in this region (for detailsplease refer to Table 5). Mining in case of Meghalaya and forestry and logging in case ofArunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are important contributors to net state domestic product(NSDP). The contribution of construction is also high in this region. But after the SupremeCourts restrictions on tree felling, the complexity of occupancy underwent changes. Compared toall India average of 20 per cent, manufacturings contribution is between 5 and 8 percent in theregion. Employment is mainly in agriculture and the service sector.

Table 5: Contribution of major sectors to NSDP in North-East (at current prices)

Sectors Year Arunachal Assam Manipur Meghalaya Mizoram Nagaland Tripura

1990-91 32.98 36.63 36.08 26.46 23.85 26.26 38.37

1995-96 26.55 R 39.4 33.27 23.19 31.56 27.81 35.90 P

Agriculture

1996-97 27.34P 38.84P 32.52Q 24.13 Q NA 29.03 Q 35.91 Q

1990-91 11.91 2.58 1.48 1.55 3.17 4.76 3.87

1995-96 7.85 R 1.99 2.81 1.40 4.30 3.88 2.73 P

Forestry &Logging

1996-97 6.73 P 2.03 3.06Q 1.20 Q NA 3.14 Q 2.73 Q

1990-91 0.86 1.46 2.33 0.50 2.88 0.54 3.77

1995-96 0.72 R 2.06 2.88 0.84 0.89 0.43 3.77 P

Fishing

1996-97 0.71 P 1.75 2.63 0.82 Q NA 0.37 Q 3.77 Q

1990-91 0.69 9.72 0.0013 6.26 2.30 NA 0.86

1995-96 0.30 R 4.24 0.004 5.36 0.39 NA 0.87 P

Mining &quarrying

1996-97 0.37 P 3.88 0.0006Q 5.21 Q NA NA 0.87 Q

Public 1990-91 9.39 4.54 13.57 13.86 15.87 15.85 13.77


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1995-96 8.94 R 5.64 13.74 13.35 15.53 17.88 13.86 PAdmn.

1996-97 9.63 P 6.79 14.35 Q 12.98 Q NA 16.58 Q 13.84 Q

1990-91 13.52 8.68 11.53 10.53 10.47 14.53 14.57

1995-96 14.15 R 10.51 13.04 11.54 10.75 15.71 18.8 P

OtherServices

1996-97 14.15 P 9.93 13.82 Q 10.00 Q NA 17.27 Q 18.8 Q

Source: North Eastern Development Finance Corporation

Table 6: Percentage contribution of secondary and tertiary sectors to NSDP in NE

SectorsYear Arunachal Assam Manipur

MeghalayaMizoram Nagaland

Tripura

1990-91

5.11 12.46 2.64 3.11 5.78 2.22 2.62

1995-96

3.27(R) 7.53 2.98 3.38 4.84 1.41 2.26(P)

Manufacturing

1996-97

3.08(R) 7.70(P) 3.21(Q) 3.30(Q) N. A. 1.45(Q) 2.26(Q)

1990-91

16.22 4.77 8.49 12.32 14.93 11.52 6.81

1995-96

27.8 R 6.88 9.64 11.46 12.16 9.54 8.00 P

Construction

1996-97

26.87 P 7.37 P 10.16 Q 12.85 NA 10.36 Q 8.02 Q

1990-91

-3.13 0.24 0.03 -1.37 -2.79 -1.58 -3.01

1995-96

-0.035 0.33 -2.78 -0.437 -2.32 -0.84 -3.64

Electricity, Gasand Water supply

1996-97

0.03 0.34 -3.14 Q -0.192 NA -0.75 Q -3.64

Transport andCommunication

1990-91

0.69 2.95 4.03 7.465 5.81 5.48 3.30


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1995-96

0.46 R 3.4 3.11 6.57 3.55 3.48 3.31

1996-97

0.60 P 3.42 P 2.80 Q 6.73 NA 3.01 Q 3.31

1990-91

6.19 8.43 4.26 11.49 5.39 7.56 7.11

1995-96

5.67 R 10.36 5.25 16.06 8.32 8.11 5.72

Trade

1996-97

6.01 P 9.79 P 5.20 Q 15.62 NA 7.62 Q 5.72

1990-91

1.22 2.51 1.45 2.37 1.81 2.25 2.67

1995-96

1.28 R 3.71 0.96 2.59 1.28 1.18 3.32

Bank andInsurance

1996-97

1.33 P 3.96 0.86 Q 2.67 NA 0.98 Q 3,32

1990-91

13.52 8.68 11.53 10.53 10.47 14.53 14.57

1995-96

14.15 R 10.51 13.04 11.54 10.75 15.71 18.80

Other services

1996-97

14.15 P 9.93 13.82 10.00 NA 17.27 Q 18.80

Source: North Eastern Development Finance Corporation

Vulnerability and Poverty in North-East IndiaVulnerability: The 99% of the frontiers of the North-East in surrounded by foreign countries. Itis linked to the main land of India only through a small strip of land in the north of Bengal,popularly referred as chickens neck. Many states are linked to other part of the country throughonly one roadway (like Tripura through National Highway 44). Endemic floods, landslides, cloudblasts, avalanches are common features of the regions. The entire region comes under the

highest Risk Zone in seismographic classification.Adding to the above factors are poor infrastructure development, ethnic conflicts and ecologicaldegradation. All these factors put the entire region into high volatile vulnerable region.

Cosmetic beauty amongst acute poverty: The resource rich states of the North-Eastgenerate very little in terms in economic produces, which is reflected in the comparative humanpoverty index developed by Planning Commission of India (2001). A table of comparison among32 Indian states in table 8 illustrates the pathetic situation of the states in the North-East. The


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cosmetic glance at the region gives a misleading picture, as generally people tend to judgepoverty from general attitudes and attires etc.

Table 8: Comparative Human Poverty Index (1991) in NE States

State Combined Rank Rural Poverty Rank Urban PovertyRank

Arunachal Pradesh 30 30 25Assam 27 25 23Manipur 21 20 28Meghalaya 28 31 14Mizoram 14 18 11Nagaland 22 21 22Tripura 24 22 19Source: National Human Development Report, 2001.

In general, from the table it could be concluded that all the states perform much below thebigger states of the federal country. There are again much variations prevailing within the states.There are pockets of areas (districts like Dhubri in Assam and Dhalai in Tripura) where acute

shortage of food grains in particular season is common feature. There are repeated stories,without much national focus of starvation deaths coming from interior places in the region.

Planning Commissions priorities in development of North-East: The PlanningCommission set up in 1950, undertook development initiations through Five-Year Plan basis.There are critiques and later on understandings that the clubbing of North Eastern regionsplanning process along with other regions in a centralised system had some drawbacks. One ofthe stark examples could be the Million Wells Programme (MWP) initiated from PlanningCommission in the 60s and 70s. In majority areas in northeast, it was a failure because of itsterrains. In early Five Year Plans infrastructure and gigantic plans were given priorities and theregion did not witness much of these happening there. A shift happened during the Eighth Fiveyear Plan whereby emphasis was given on conservation and utilisation of its rich resources. The

Planning Commission outlined approaches and strategies for the development of the region.These included among others

Intensive efforts at the implementation level to arrest the process of degradation of thehills and to improve the productivity of the land.

Financial and physical monitoring of the Hill Area Development Programme by StateGovernments to improve the implementation of various programmes.

Afforestation programme to be popularised through the villagepanchayats. Appropriate technologies to bring about localised self-sufficiency and generate alternative

means of livelihood as opposed to dependence on forest and livestock rearing. Use of appropriate technologies to upgrade the traditional productive systems. Consolidation of small and scattered land holdings in improving the water and land

management. Development of horticulture, sericulture and plantation especially the cash crop having

low volume, light weight, high value and long shelf-life. Encouragement of number of cottage industries like carpet weaving, handlooms,

handicrafts and other village and household based industries.

This happened after the recommendations made by Task Force (for The Study of Eco-Development in the Himalayan Region) under the chairmanship of noted scholar M. S.Swaminathan.

Box 1: Time line of major policy changes on North-East


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Evolution of development approaches in the North-East:

1971: North-East Council (NEC) was formed for integrated development of North-eastern Indiamainly consisting eastern Himalayas.1974: Launching of Hill Area Development Programme (HADP).1981: Planning Commission set up Task Force for study of Eco-development in the Himalayan

region.1988: Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Himalayan Environment and Development (GBPIHED)founded at Almora district in Uttar Pradesh as focal point for documentation, dissemination anddemonstration for research and development in the whole Himalayan region of India includingwhole region of North East.1992: Planning Commission set up Expert Group on National Policy for Integrated Developmentin The Himalayas.2001: A new ministry, Department for Development of Northeast Region (DONeR) was formed inthe Union for special development of North-East of India.2002: The Prime Minister at Nainital declares that the Central will set up HimalayanDevelopment Authority for overall development of the Himalayan region including all the statesof North East.

Banking and Micro-Finance in North-East India:As of March 2004, the North-East Regionhad 1871 bank branches with a total deposit base of Rs.23, 666 crores and credit base of Rs.7,058 crores. The total banking business of the North-East Region is of the order of Rs. 30, 724crores. Of the 1871 branches, 1607 branches are in rural and semi-urban categories, which formabout 86% of the total number of branches. The total business of these rural and semi-urbanbranches is of the order of Rs.17, 016 crores which forms around 55% of the total business ofthe region.

Of the total available banking infrastructure of the North Eastern Region, Assam has the majorchunk constituting around 65% in terms of total number of branches and business profile. TheCredit-Deposit ratio has shown a slight improvement in the year 2003-2004 in comparison to the

year 2002-2003 which was 26.35% and 29.53% respectively. The national average is 59% as onMarch 2004. A study carried out by North Eastern Institute of Banking Management (NEIBM),Guwahati revealed that the annual credit usage in the North-East states is around Rs.600 croresas far as micro-credit usage is concerned.

One of the most ubiquitous systems of informal credit is the formation of voluntary groups invillages (called funds, committees etc), members of which collect money periodically and giveout loans at high rate. The profits are shared. In Manipur, the Marup(Friend) system has almostengulfed the entire state. The advantage of modern micro credit by formal institutions is thatthere is an external flow of funds into the hands of the groups (SHGs), which can enhance thecreditable funds.

Among the major players in micro-finance in North-East, RGVN has a micro-finance (mF)programme which is ten years old with the largest loan portfolio. The other few organizationswith mF programmes are ASOMI, Guwahati; TDMS, Tezpur; Sipajhar Diamond club, Darrang;Prachesta, Guwahati; YVO; VORHA (Volunteers for Rural Health Agency); World vision; DiocesanSocial Service Society of Imphal; Entrepreneurship Associate; etc. But their outreach is very low.In Manipur mF service is very old as mentioned above and the women are very active.

SHG Bank Linkage: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) supportedSelf help group (SHG)-Bank linkage has achieved miniscule in North-East in comparison to overallnational achievement. Against a total linkage of nearly 11 lakhs SHGs in the whole country only12,278 numbers of SHGs have been linked in North-East till March 2004. And that is too very


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unevenly distributed in the region. Nearly 90% of the total groups linked are in Assam. In thestate like Mizoram and Nagaland linkage is very poor. The following table illustrates the picture ofSHG-Bank Linkage scenario in the region:


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Table 7: Status of SHG-Bank linkage in North-East

State

Cumulative No of

SHGsprovided

withbankloan ason 31March2003

Cumulative No.of

SHGsrefinancelinked as

on 31March2003

NewSHGs

provide

d withbankloan

during2003-

04

NewSHGsrefinanc

edduring

2003-04

Cumulative No. of

SHGsprovided

withbankloan ason 31March2004

Cumulative No.of

SHGsrefinancelinked as

on 31March2004

Cumulative bankloan ason 31March2003

BankLoan

during2003-

04

Cumulative bankloan ason 31March2004

Cumulati

verefinance as on

31March2003

Refinance

during2003-

04

Cum

refe a

M2

Assam 3,477 1,969 7,229 3,309 10,706 5,278 45.5 123.1 3309 28.72 37.63 5Meghalaya 179 118 15 194 118 5.79 0.49 0 2.22 0.253 1

Tripura 104 35 746 850 35 0.98 4.23 0 0.35 3.96

Manipur 162 162 63 63 225 225 4.81 1.12 63 3.6 1.12 2Nagaland 15 0 9 24 0 0.58 2.31 0 0.81ArunachalPradesh 108 0 117 225 0 2 7.83 0Mizoram 22 22 0 2.49 0 1.77Sub-Total 4,045 2,284 8,201 3,372 12,246 5,656 59.66

141.57 3372 34.8945.543 5

Source: National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)


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Resource Based Analysis of the North-East India: The North-East region is living case ofpeople living in poverty within the abundance of resources. The following table illustrates theresource based opportunities and constraints the region is witnessing for years.

Table 9: Resource based analysis of North-East

Strengths Weaknesses

Bio-diversityThe North-East India has highest biologicaldiversityThe cultural diversity provides an example ofpeople mingling and creating a miniature Asiawithin region.There are ample opportunity of utilising themedicinal plants and herbs in the region.There is possibility of off season vegetable andniche based commercial activities based on thebio-diversity.The is huge market for eco-tourism

ForestThe forest plays a crucial role in balancing theecology of the region.The forest plays a vital role in animalhusbandry and fodder promotion.The forest products play a crucial role in theeconomy of the people.There are strong traditional systems ofmanaging forest still in existence.

WaterThe favourable rainfall and strong networks ofrivers and streams have led to good waterfeeding particularly in valleys in the North-East.It has helped in development of fisheries too.Many rivers provide waterways fortransportation and in many cases it is the onlyway for transportation.There is ample opportunity to developirrigation system in the region.

AgricultureThe valleys in the region have most fertilelands with good productivity.The niche crops in the hills have hugeeconomic value.In valleys, even without irrigation facilitysecond crop can easily be taken up.Organic agriculture has lots of opportunity inthe region.

Bio-diversityPoor infrastructure facility and marketingnetwork makes it difficult for large scaling up.

Forest

Peoples role has been reduced in maintainingthe forest particularly in forest areas underdirect purview of Government.The traditional scientific method of cultivationin forest has been adversely affected withincreasing pressure on forest.Different Government and juridicalinterventions in forest areas (like declaration ofNational Park) often led to forest-peopleconflicts.

Water

Due to less carrying capacity of the rivers floodis an annual inevitable in many parts of theregion.Water retention in the hilly region is a problemand most of upper catchments areas(including Cherrapunjee, credited withrecording highest rainfall in the world) faceacute shortage of water.Due to heavy runoff, there is always danger oflarge soil erosion.Inspite of water availability, irrigation facility ispoor.

AgricultureThe potential of the land in terms ofproductivity is not totally realised.The poor infrastructure does not allow farmersto go for big commercial ventures.The diversification of agriculture has nothappened in large ways.


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Horticulture

The North-East region is rich in horticulturalcrops and has ample opportunity to go forlarge scale horticulture promotion.There is large market available for this sector

outside the region.

Handicrafts

The North-East region has abundance ofbamboo and handlooms.There are traditional skills available to harnessthe local resources.The handicrafts products from the region are ofhigh quality and appreciated worldwide.

Human ResourcesThe literacy rate in the region much higherthan the national average.

Education is given high priority by all sectionsof the society in the region.There are many professionally qualified peopleavailable in the region.A work force of retired Army professionals isavailable.Most of the education system in the region is inEnglish and it provides a cutting edgeparticularly in Information Technology relatedwork.Women have comparatively more equality inthe region and they have comparatively more

freedom in engaging in economic activities.

HorticulturePoor infrastructure and lack of processingplants is the biggest hurdle for development ofthe sector.

HandicraftsThe regions landlocked situation andinconducive trade atmosphere constraint thegrowth of the sector.

Human Resources

The unemployment is a big problem in theregion.Though overall literacy rate is high, the regionhas highest dropouts in school level.Number of technical institutions anduniversities are very few in the region.The formal education system does not takemuch care of the more relevant issues in theregion like relationship of man with forest.Most of the professionals prefer workingoutside the region.Inspite of women being a major workforce,

their role in political decision is almostnegligible.


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i The category `tribal and its definition would be considered problematical in scholarly circles.Indigenous people in this report refers to tribals under the Article 342 of Indian Constitution,which provides for the president of India by public notification to specify the tribes or tribalcommunities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposesof the Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes. By Indigenous People here it is simplymeant a group included in that list hence scheduled tribe (ST). It is because ----just wherethe line between `tribals and `non-tribals should be drawn has not always been free fromdoubt.

Reference:Bandyopadhyay Jayanta, 1998, Approach to Sustainable Human Development in the IndianHimalaya Concept paper, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Calcutta, India: IIM, Calcutta.

Barik, S.K and V.T.Darlong in Sustainable Management of Forests India; editors A.Arunachalam, M.L. Khan (2000), International Book Distributors, Dehradun.

Barua S (2003); Uprooted in the NortheastThe imbalance of rights, ethnic claims and histories ofdispossession March issue of Journal of Refugee Studies

Directorate of Census. 2001, Provisional Census Data, Government of India: New Delhi.

Government of India, 1982. Report of the Task Force for the Study of Eco-Development in theHimalayan Region, New Delhi, India: Planning Commission.

Government of India (nd), National policy for Integrated Development in the Himalayas, NewDelhi, India: Planning Commission.

National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), website (accessed on the 15th ofJune, 2005).

North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFi), website (Accessed on the 15th of June,2005).

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