The budgetary allocation of Rs. 115 crore for development of ‘Organic Value Chain’ in Northeast will prove to be a “game-changer” for the entire region, said Jitendra Singh, Union minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
The Union budget, presented by finance minister Arun Jaitley on February 29, proposed to convert five lakh hectares in the country under organic farming and develop value chains in the Northeastern region.
“Not only will it help in boosting the enormous unexplored potentials of organic entrepreneurship in the region but would also comfort the entire region into a favourite destination for new start ups from across the country to come to Northeast,” said Singh.
The DoNER minister added that the emphasis of the current government had been on the promotion of organic farming and Northeast had become an important destination for that with state of Sikkim being declared as the first ‘organic state’ of India by the Prime Minister recently.
He said that the budget for ministry of DoNER had been increased from Rs 2,334.50 crore to Rs 2,400 crore this year as compared to previous year. “The main emphasis of the budget allocated for Northeast is on the overall development of the region. The provisions have been made for connectivity in the region, skill development and organic value chain development among others.”
Singh also informed that Rs 150 crore has been provided for the newly launched Northeast road sector development scheme. He said that this scheme would be helpful in the development of the inter-state roads in the region. In addition, he said Asian Development Bank (ADB) would spare funds from its own sources for construction and maintenance of roads in the region.
Laying emphasis on the government’s efforts to improve the connectivity in Northeast, Singh said the main initiative of the DoNER Ministry; as part of the ‘Act East Policy’, had been to provide funds to establish railway connectivity between India and Bangladesh. A sum of Rs 587 crore would be provided by his ministry for laying railway tracks on the Indian side.
A sum of Rs 33,097.02 crore has been allocated for the Northeastern region across 56 ministries in the budget. The budget allocation for North East Council (NEC) schemes has been increased from Rs 700 crore to Rs 795 crore this year.
