The two-day Editors Conference on Social Sectors issues of the NE region aims to administer more accountability and transparency.

two-day Editors Conference on Social Sectors issues of the North-East region was recently held in Guwahati. The conference was sponsored by Ministry of Rural Development. Apart from Rural Development, the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Tribal Affairs, HRD and Social Justice and Empowerment participated in the conference.

The idea of the Editors Conference on Social Service issues was mooted first by the Press Information Bureau in the late 90s and it was first held in New Delhi. From then on, it has become an annual event but each time it has been held in New Delhi. This was the first time that the conference was held anywhere outside Delhi. The PIB intends to make this Editors Conference on social Sector issues of the North-East region an annual event. In the subsequent years, it plans to involve other ministries and also hold the conference by turn in other State capitals of the North-East region.

This clearly shows the commitment and sensitivity of the Government of India for the welfare and development of the North-East. The whole idea is to administer more accountability and make the working of the ministries more transparent before the media who in turn will relay the exact picture to the people of the region.

Union Minister of Rural Development Dr. Raghuvansh Prasad Singh inaugurated the conference. Thereafter, at length, he talked about the Central schemes in the North-Eastern region that is being pursued for rural development. He had Assam Rural Development Minister Ripun Bora by his side. The Union Minister announced that the Central Government has not only deliberated on the demand of North-Eastern states to give Central project funds on a 90:10 (90 per cent Central share and ten per cent state share) from the existing 75:25 and indicated that the decision to sanction it would come soon.

It may be mentioned here one area of concern expressed by the NE Stales is their inability to release the matching state share due to poor fiscal health. This in turn has been adversely affecting their spending cycle and consequently future financial releases. There has been a specific request to reduce the state share requirement of NE Slates from 25% to 10%, which is being pursued with the Planning Commission.

The Minister also said that his Ministry will keep strict vigilance on the states as far as money utilization and running various schemes are concerned. Accountability, transparency and participation of the people were the other areas that the Union Minister pointed out as areas of focus for his ministry.

Assam Rural Development Minister Ripun Bora took some scathing criticism from the media on his stride. Incidentaly, more of the criticism was directed at lack of accountability and transparency. The Union Minister had the last say — “now that the Right to Information Bill has been passed, no Ministry of department either at   the Centre or the State can hold back any information. There will be total transparency.”

The Union Ministry has also sought suggestions from the states saying that another important variable at the level of implementation of the Ministry’s programmes in the North-Eastern region is the existence of Schedule 6 areas i.e. places where the Panchayati Raj Act is not applicable as a result of which no Panchayati Raj Institution are in operation. In these autonomous areas, traditional village councils or community based organizations are in existence. Therefore, in such Schedule 6 areas, the DRDA directly implements the various schemes wilhout the involvement of any local bodies.

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