For northeastern states, the funding ratio of the Centre and states under the Indira Awas Yojana has been increased to 90:10 as opposed to 75:25 in other states  Good news for northeastern (NE) states. The Centre has currently expressed its commitment towards all round development of rural areas in NE states, comprising Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur.Commenting on the government’s commitment to poor in the NE states on the sidelines of the All India Editors Conference on Social and Infrastructure Issues in Guwahati recently, union minister of state for rural development Pradeep Jain Aditya said that the funding ratio of the Centre and states under the Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) for NE states has been increased to 90:10 as opposed to 75:25 in other states.
Shri Jain further said that the Centre is eager to raise its assistance for rural infrastructure development in the North East.
Moreover, the ruling UPA government increased the allocation for Bharat Nirman—the umbrella programme focusing on rural infrastructure development across India—from Rs 40,900 crore in 2009 to Rs 48,000 crore in 2010. The programme covers segments such as housing, drinking water, electricity, roads, irrigation and telecommunications.
Positive developments
The aforementioned seven states in the North East witnessed marked development in the rural housing sector, with Mizoram leading the way.
Consider this: During 2009-10, around 2.26 lakh houses were constructed, while 1.39 lakh were under construction. The target stood at 3.15 lakh dwelling units for FY2010.
In 2010-11, the Centre has sanctioned Rs 976.50 crore under IAY for construction of 2.24 lakh housing units in NE states. In the first installment, around Rs 439.39 crore has already been released, confirms Shri Jain.
Apart from housing, the government is emphasising on rural drinking water supply in these states. Under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), the Centre has allocated Rs 810 crore for the seven states in the current financial year.
When a correspondent from Times Journal of Construction and Design (TJCD) contacted the NABARD[i] Nagaland office to get a clear picture on the development of a particular region, a senior official sounded optimistic and praised the Central government’s continuous endeavour to develop infrastructure of the rural areas in the region in recent times.
Fund allocation from the Centre for rural infrastructure development in Nagaland has increased in 2010-11 as against the previous financial year, said a government source. According to that source, under special plan assistance, the government sanctioned over Rs 70 crore in 2010-11 for roads and bridges over that of Rs 60 crore in 2009-10. In the current financial year, allocation for medical and public health shot up to Rs 34 crore from Rs 14 crore in 2009-10. Segments such as housing and agriculture and soil conservation also witnessed a rise in fund allocation to Rs 24 crore and more than Rs 50 crore, respectively.
Allocation under additional central assistance has also been enhanced for Nagaland, particularly in sectors such as irrigation, agriculture and soil conservation and development of backward region, adds the source.
Rural sanitation, rural employment and land records management are the other three prime areas in the North East, which are driving greater focus from the Congress government at present.
Jeeta Bandopadhyay
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