Good observations Hazarika. cm
Sentinel Editorial The North-east as Industry Shantikam Hazarika Some time ago, when I was in Delhi on some work, I received a phone call from a person I had not met before. He introduced himself as secretary of some organization. He requested me to present a paper in a seminar he was organizing in Assam. When I agreed immediately to his request, he warmed up. He stated that he is getting a Union Cabinet minister to inaugurate the seminar, the Governor or the Chief Minister of Assam to grace it and casually asked other possible names who may contribute papers. Then he also asked what would be the suitable venue. As the conversation proceeded, I felt that the caller basically wanted me to do the entire legwork involved in organizing the seminar, including fixing the venue and if possible, find some sponsors. He had never been to Assam before and apparently had no idea of the place. All he was sure was of his ability to get the Cabinet Minister and other big shots to participate in the workshop. As soon as I realized that I was being enticed to be made a sucker, I extricated myself from the situation. He never contacted me again. The caller was apparently a seasoned organizer. A few months later, he did organize a workshop in Assam. He managed a few local dignitaries to participate and got due publicity. Of course, he never contacted me. Nowadays, seminars/workshops/summits/exhibitions about the North-east are taking place almost daily, either in Delhi or somewhere in the North-east itself. Most of these are lavishly sponsored by various Central Government agencies. Similarly, there appears to be no end to studies/research being conducted about the North-east by organizations from Delhi, again with the help of liberal grants from various Government bodies. Rapid industrial growth is the crying need of the North-east. The region's basic problem is absence of employment generation activities. Employment generation is possible only through large-scale industrialization. However, industrialization has remained a pipe dream for the region. No new industry, worth its name, has come up in the region in the last few years. In place of industrialization, North-east by itself has become a big industry in Delhi. Enterprising individuals and organizations in Delhi are doing very well in the name of doing something for the North-east. It seems, North-east has emerged as an 'enterprise' and has given rise to a separate band of 'entrepreneurs' specializing in the NE. The reason is not far to seek. North-east has become the latest buzzword in the Central Government's lexicon. Decades of crying hoarse that Delhi has neglected the North-east region have at last borne fruit. Suddenly Delhi has been filled with guilt. It is now convinced that it has indeed neglected the North-east. Delhi must appear to do something. It has created agencies like NEDFi, the non-lapsable pool of fund in every department and the crowning glory, the Ministry of Development Of the North Eastern Region, the DONER. Nowadays, the annual reports of every Department of the Central Government must have a separate chapter about what they are doing for the North-east. Frankly, as I have always maintained, what Delhi can do for the region is very limited. People, who cannot help themselves, cannot be helped by others in a tangible manner. It is not that the Central agencies are entirely blameless. However, if we in the North-east have failed to utilize whatever was given to the region in the past, there is no guarantee that any future doles or concessions would bear fruit or achieve results. Yet, after creation of so many special vehicles for the development of the north-eastern region, Delhi continues to be under pressure to show that it cares for the North-east. In our country, money spent is recognized as work done. Hence, all these departments, ministries, agencies are simply very happy to fund any activity that may help them to propagate that they are doing something for the North-east. A senior official in a Central Public Sector unit told me that recently the unit was not getting approval from its administrative department in the Central Government to make some capital expenditure. However, when the unit stated that the capital expenditure would indirectly help the NE region, the approval came immediately. Results have always been inconsequential in our country. The mere indication that something is being done is adequate to satisfy those who are shouting that nothing is being done. Thus patronizing any North-east oriented 'entrepreneurs' help the sponsoring Government agencies to become 'visible'. These gestures also convey that they are genuinely doing something for the North-east and that Delhi is indeed supportive of any North-east oriented activities. Such actions receive lot of support in the North-east because it helps the 'locals' from the North-east to either make jaunts to Delhi or if organized in the region itself, have their own 'fifteen minutes of glory' in the local media. And of course, once such an event is organized, the ground is laid for future sustenance, for further receipt of grants and more such activities. The gullibility factor is also there. It is astonishing how easy it is to fool those who matter in the North-east. Most Delhi-sponsored NE oriented activities are flourishing mainly because they are getting ample support from the work-shirkers of North-east itself. There is a long-standing aversion in the North-east to tackle main issues head-on or to get into brass tacks, which might involve getting down to work. By encouraging these 'North-east entrepreneurs,' those in the State Government can go through the motion of doing something without dirtying their hands. It is indeed galling how gullible the powers to be are in the region. They even bend backwards to acquiesce to any such actions from Delhi-oriented organizations. An institute in a North Indian city has been able to 'hijack' the entire higher education grant of the North Eastern Council (NEC) amounting to more than a crore of rupees. One NE Chief Minister has even hailed this 'achievement' with pride in public. No one in the region seems to be aware of the credentials of this institute and what the institute actually purports to do. In spite of the Central Government's best intentions, nothing visible is happening in the North-east, in terms of development. The well-meaning Governor of Assam has recently lamented that nothing is happening in Assam. Nothing would happen in the entire NE region and the reasons are not far to seek. We seem to think that organizing melas, seminars, workshops, summits and festivals are ends by themselves. No one has time to find out what actually requires to be done if the region is to be brought out of the morass it is in. The non-development of the NE region has at least spawned a new class of entrepreneurs and a few new enterprises in Delhi. We should be thankful that something has come out of the relative level of non-development of the North-east region. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
