Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Chowna Mein said huge investments are likely to be pumped-in into the north-eastern region in the coming years which will usher in unprecedented development in this hilly region.
He said this while attending the National Seminar on ‘Hill Economies and Sustainable Development – Challenges & Prospects’ organized by Centre for Development Studies, Department of Economics at Rajiv Gandhi University in Itanagar on Monday.
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He said the hilly states of north-eastern region are endowed with abundant natural resources and blessed with varied rivers, wildlife, flora and fauna and called it ‘pool of bio-resources’.
It has high prospects of development such as agro-forestry and horticulture, plantation crops, organic farming, animal husbandry, recreation and tourism, hydro-power, mining and quarrying, cottage and small scale industries, agro and forest based industries, he said.
Mein further added that the need of the hour is to find out ways and transform these resources into an economic driving force.
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He said, “There is need to design region specific policy to overcome the constraints in the hill states and to reap the benefits from comparative advantages.”
He asked the experts ‘to come out with concrete suggestions from the outcome of such discourse and help the State Government in framing a road map for policies to tap and convert the huge potentials in to a viable economy’.
Vice-Chancellor of the university, Prof Tamo Mibang in his speech said peace is pre-requisite for development of any region and good connectivity is another important aspect to propel desired economic development.
Prof Prabhat Kumar Pankaj, Director, Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur who was also one of the founding faculty members of Rajiv Gandhi University in the State in his key note address laid emphasis on parameters that bring in happiness to the people.
He said that any measure of sustainable development should enhance well-being and happiness of the people.
He suggested for introduction of courses in schools and colleges to promote happiness and also for adopting alternative paradigm on measuring development and achieving holistic well-being in government programmes and policies.
Prof S K Nayak, Head of the Department of Economics in the University and Prof N C Roy and Prof A Mitra, his departmental colleagues also spoke on the occasion.
Scholars from Bangalore, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal and other states are participating in the two-day seminar which will deal on various topics pertaining to hill states such as tourism, problem of urbanization, problem of migration and industrialization, livelihood diversification, gender issues, agricultural issues, PDS & food security, mobilization of resources and bio-resources, etc.