*Prof Mithilesh Kumar Sinha
As the Union Budget 2021 is a week away, the focus will turn to sectors calling for immediate attention. Budget 2021 can indicate the beginning of a new ‘New Normal’ era. This Budget can turn out to be one of the most exciting ones in this century. Being a faculty of Economics in Northeast region, it is my utmost responsibility to highlight the expectations of Northeast India’s people from the coming Budget.
In this coming Budget a big area that the government needs to focus on is infrastructure for Northeast India because infrastructure has strong links to growth, and with both supply- and demand-side features that help generate employment and long-term assets and agriculture and healthcare both require modern infrastructure to ensure better outcomes, respectively. Since infrastructure development also boosts other industries and facilitates the ease of doing business, it fosters inclusive growth and helps in poverty alleviation too. In the light of the above, to boost a quicker economic turnaround, the Union Budget 2021-22 should ensure greater outlays for infrastructure development for Northeast India. Here is Northeast States’ people wish list for the Budget 2021
• In spite of special attention being paid, particularly in the recent years, for development of transport infrastructure, some areas like North-East continue to be inadequately served and this has affected not only their economic development but even social and political integration with the rest of the country. So, big expectation of the habitants of the NE is more spending on infrastructure, especially on road networks in North-East states.
• Another big expectation is to emphasis on better medical facilities, especially now that they need to vaccinate most of the population during this pandemic.
• The public health infrastructure of the region is one of the most underdeveloped in the country. Upgrade medical infrastructure; more medical institutes in North-East states needs to be taken care.
• COVID-19 has disrupted the value chain of the MSMEs especially handloom, handicrafts and food processing sectors According to UNDP, MSMEs can create sustainable livelihood for women in North East. So, more funds for young women workers in the social sector may be provided and new financial schemes for them may be included in the budget.
• Women should be educated to comprehend that they require a change for the betterment of themselves. Budget needs to focus on to improve education in Northeast States. More allocations may be made for education to build better schools with improved quality facilities.
• A large proportion of the ST population in NER states resides in the designated tribal areas. Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland house more than 85% ST population, all living in their respective designated tribal areas of the states. More focus on efficient social schemes; proper and extensive medical care for senior citizens must be focused in the budget.
(The writer is Professor of Economics, Nagaland University, Lumami)
