Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Wednesday squarely attacked the Union government for adopting an indifferent towards the Northeastern region. He said apathetic attitude of successive governments at the Centre has made the region suffer from inadequate infrastructure, lack of economic progress and underdevelopment.
“The country has a federal structure, but where is the discussion between the Centre and the States. Demolition of Planning Commission and creation of Niti Ayog has further diminished scope of dialogues,”Mr Sarkar said at the inauguration of three-day ‘Connect Northeast’ pre-summit conclave in Agartala.
The Tripura Government and the Federation of India Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) jointly organised the conclave with support from Ministry of DoNER and some industrial organisations. Business delegates from Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Japan and Russia are attending.
Bangladesh Minister of Commerce and Industry Amir Hussain Amu arrived through Akhaura check post in Agartala in the afternoon and he would address a session tomorrow. A few Union ministers and Chief Ministers of neighbouring States who were invited skipped the programme.
Mr Sarkar became vocal against the Centre after Bibek Debroy, Member of Niti Ayog, in his speech became critical about ‘appalling conditions’ in different segments of Tripura which, he said, did not encourage investment in the State. He said the FICCI was hastily organising the conclave before the matters could improve.
“However there are actual scope in Higher Education, Medical, Bio technology and Tourism sectors in Tripura,” he added. Mr Debroy claimed the border haats (markets), common points of traders and buyers of India and Bangladesh situated on zero point of border, were not functioning well.
The Chief Minister in his speech criticised the Centre for dismal conditions of Tripura and the Northeast as a whole. He claimed Tripura alone is losing Rs1,800 crore in a year for faulty assessment of allocations by the Centre.
He also questioned what Niti Ayog is doing to put things right? Without money how the region could overcome inadequacies in all respect, he asked. Mr Sarkar said it was not the job of private investors to develop infrastructure and create favourable conditions for investment. He also slammed the NDA government for not fulfilling its promise to provide employment to two crore unemployed youths every year.
