The North Eastern Council (NRC) has been at the forefront of bringing about development in an area which faces several challenges. K Moses Chalai, Secretary, NEC, tells Saimi Sattar about the roadmap ahead
K Moses Chalai, Secretary, North Eastern Council (NEC) hails from Chowainamai Khunou village under Mao-Maram sub-division in Senapati District. From the Manipur cadre of 1990 IAS batch, he was posted on deputation as Additional Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child Development before being sent to NEC.
Before his deputation to Delhi, he had served as the Principal Secretary and Commissioner in different departments like Social Welfare, Higher Education and Health.
What are the future plans of North Eastern Council?
NEC will carry on with its mandates. We are a regional planning body and we will continue to do that for Northeast and also provide certain inputs on whatever the States come up with. We will continue to do a number of studies, some of which are ongoing, for this. These studies are linked to some practical usage as well.
Second, as per the advice and mandate provided by the Prime Minister at the NEC Plenary, the Council is also going to become a state-of-the-art resource centre which will provide consultancy, skills, resources and cutting-edge ideas. It will carry on projects and schemes. It is a funding agency and will continue to do that.
So, will this be a separate, independent unit or will it be a subsidiary of the NEC?
This will be a part of the NEC. It will have a distinct entity and will not have the typical official and governmental structure which exists at the moment. It will be involving and partnering with different institutes, experts and agencies who can bring in the best. There will be a lot of outsourcing. We are doing several studies with North Eastern Development Finance Corporation (NEDFI) which will be one of our partners.
How would you evaluate the NEC? Would you say it is a success story?
To put briefly, the NEC has completed 48 years. It has done its bit. It has set up iconic institutions like the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), North East Police Academy (NEPA), North Eastern Institute of Science and Technology (Itanagar) and North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (Neriwalm) among others. It has been involved in setting up of North Eastern Space Application Centre (NESAC). There have been some iconic institutes which have filled the critical gap in the region. It is another story that now the States are more resourceful, mature and bigger. They have expertise and can move forward once the NEC has done all of this. It has made 11,000 km of roads which can take you across continents if it is stretched out in one line. It was part of the setting up of North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO). Power, bridges, infrastructure, livelihood projects are the core areas that NEC has taken up. Everything that it did was not perfect as the Council was still evolving. A third-party evaluation said that NEC has done its job though it could have been better.
One positive aspect is that NEC has a very strong goodwill of the States. The affection of the region towards it is also immense.
How has its role evolved?
It continues to do many things. NEC needs to see how it can continue to be relevant and useful while spearheading initiatives that were done in the past. There are a few initiatives which are trend-setters. Any organisation in the world in a democratic system, like a political party, has to go back to the people to say that it is still good and relevant after every four-five years. NEC has been given 50 years and it is very important that it is also subjected to this yardstick. As a part of the organisation, we are quite willing to step up and meet that challenge. Relatively, the resources of the Council have not gone up while those available to the States have increased dramatically. Definitely the resources need to commensurate the efforts of the NEC. However, it needs to be kept in mind that resource utilisation isn’t easy. When the money comes in, it can’t be just put in anywhere. There has to be proper planning and parameters have to be followed. But we do need to step up.
We should continue to work on power and basic infrastructure because there is still a need for these.
There is another role which was outlined by our Chairman, Home Minister, Amit Shah. He has said that 30 per cent of the NEC budget should be apportioned and provided to backward areas and deprived sections which have been left out. This has kicked in from this financial year. We are working and struggling as this is a new area. Looking back, I agree that some portion of the resources need to go forward in blocks which have not seen NEC projects. The Council does not lag behind anyone in terms of output and outcome vis-a-vis resources in comparison with any government organisation. It is perhaps among the better ones as compared to other organisations under Central and State governments.
Any new areas that NEC should be focussing on?
Technology is definitely one area that needs to pick up. NEC should step into that area and do better. For instance, in bamboo, the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) are saying that, NEC needs to go all out and make it impactful. But for that resources are needed. The authorities in Delhi have promised that resources would be found to undertake projects in the area. The government in Delhi is impatient and wants to go big. The NEC is also conducting studies with the Ministry of DoNER, IIMs, NEDFI under the lead given by the PM. So, plans are being prepared for different subjects.
