NE needs more funds to catch up with rest of India: FC

The 15th Finance Commission (FC) has endorsed the view of 'North East Vision 2020' document that says the region needs more funds to catch up with the rest of the country, the panel's chairman N K Singh said Thursday.

A 15-member team of the commission, headed by Singh, on Thursday received a memorandum from the state government and held a meeting with the council of ministers headed by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

"We endorse the view recorded in the document of the North East Region Vision 2020 that the region needs ample funds to catch up with the rest of the country. We will consider the view while recommending funds," Singh said.

He said that the commission shares the vision of chief minister and governor of Tripura to make it a model state.

The FC team had arrived yesterday and held deliberations with different stakeholders.

"The new leadership of Tripura is committed to make it a fair contributor in development of the nation. Tripuras growth trajectory is sound, he said.

A statement from the state government said that it has made a strong pitch for increased devolution to set up better infrastructure, especially in health, IT, power, education, tourism, disaster mitigation and other sectors.

The government has laid importance on four points including access to Chittagong port in neighbouring Bangladesh to make Tripura a maritime hub for NE India, improve road connectivity to boost tourism, capitalize on Tripuras comparative factor advantages in skilled manpower and agro-related industries and granting a host of specific projects aimed to fulfil aspirations of the states tribal communities.

However, when asked about plans of revising the tax base for erstwhile special category states in NE India, Singh said that he feels all northeastern states will have to become more reliant on their own resources in future.

Singh said that the state government during the last ten months has taken very important initiatives for development and laid importance in several important areas concerning the economy of Tripura.

"Finance Commission fully shares the vision of the government and chief minister to make Tripura a model state at the end of the government's tenure. I think they have an HRD plan to improve the overall HRD sector in the state. The chief minister also said the health sector in Tripura has a huge opportunity not only in health services here but to set up health institutes where a lot of people from Bangladesh can receive benefits," he said.

Singh said he finds it important to improve Land and air connectivity which is necessary to give further boost to tourism.

Singh also said the commission had a very detailed discussion yesterday with three tier panchayats and district parishads.

Singh said the commission received a memorandum from Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), who explained their plans and informed about different projects.

The TTAADC constitutes two thirds of the state's territory and is home to the tribals, who constitute a third of the states population.

Singh said the commission would submit a report to the government at the end of this year.