SHILLONG, May 16: The proposed reconstitution of the Northeastern Council (NEC), which has been pending for far too long, is likely to be taken up with the Prime Minister by the recently formed Northeastern Chief Minister's forum. The issue is expected to figure prominently in a joint memorandum to be presented to the Prime Minister next month by the forum which took shape at the first meeting of the NEC Chief Ministers here on May 12 last. Addressing the Shillong meeting, the Meghalaya Chief Minister, EK Mawlong had expressed his unhappiness at the inordinate delay in reconstituting the NEC and urged his counterparts from the north-eastern states to consider jointly pressurising the Union home ministry to carry out the proposed reconstitution without further delay. The Mizoram Chief Minister, Zoramthanga dwelt at length on the issue of NEC, stressing the necessity of restructuring and strengthening the council, "if the NEC is to continue and to be effective." He also advocated for making it a common issue of the Chief Ministers. To make the NEC more relevant to the changed circumstances, he said, the council has to be made totally development oriented and not play merely an advisory role. "It should be endowed with powers and means to formulate, fund, executive and monitor schemes so as to achieve the basic objectives of securing the balanced development of the north-eastern region," he said. The Mizoram Chief Minister also wanted that the chairman of the NEC should have the status of a Union Cabinet minister the secretary should be of the level of a secretary to the government of India. He suggested that the regional co-operations such as NEEPCO, Northeast Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation, NERAMAC, etc., should function directly under the NEC. Powers under Forest Conservation Act should also be delegated to the council, he said. Observing that the annual plan allocation provided to the NEC is too small to have any tangible impact on the development of infrastructure in the north-eastern region, the Chief Minister sought a joint approach for raising the allocation. NEC web-site: The web-site of the NEC (http://www.necouncil.nic.in) was launched here on May 12. The web-site developed jointly by NIC and NEC will provide information about the NEC, its role, functions, major achievements, major ongoing schemes and projects, new schemes and projects, etc. Efforts would also be made to make available online forms and documents like NEC stipend forms, forms for availing assistance under various schemes etc., for the general public. (Special Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 17, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 16: Despite the grandiloquent statements of the powers that be about the measures being taken for the welfare of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the state huge quantities of funds allocated for them are left unutilised pouring in cold water on the aspirations of the people belonging to these groups. According to data supplied by the concerned state government department to the National Commission for SC & ST recently only Rs 99.6 lakh of the Rs 84.42 crore allocated under the Special Component Plan for SCs during 1999-2000 has been utilised till December, 1999. Similarly only Rs 224.69 lakh of the Rs 126.35 crore allocated under Tribal Sub-plan during the same period has been used till the same time. Officials in the commission said fund utilisation under Tribal Sub-plan (TSP) - during 1998-99 was better at 86 per cent. The Special Component Plan (SCP) and TSP allocation is made on the basis of population size of the two groups of people among the total population of the state. This is the norm suggested by the Planning Commission, the SC & ST commission official informed. Assam, with a 7.4 per cent SC and 12.82 per cent ST population should ideally earmark at least 20 per cent of development funds for this marginalised section of society. The official said that while the allocation is being done, according, to the norms, there is a lot to be done in the implementation front. It is not only the state allocation that is unutilised. There is also huge balance of unspent Special Central Assistance (SCA) to SCP and TSP over the years. This assistance is non-lapsable, the official said. Total accumulation of SCA for SCP till 1999-2000 is Rs 434.26 lakh, the commission official revealed. Till December, 1999, only Rs 135.27 lakh had been used. Accumulation of SCA to TSP till the last financial year was Rs 28.29 crore which was laying unspent. A more Rs 1.55 crore under this allocation had been spent till the end of last year, the state government has written to the commission. The commission official said that a review meeting held last year had discussed the unspent balance till then but nothing came out of it. It is commonly believed that the unspent amount may have been diverted to other departments in the face of the pressing financial problems of the state government. The official said that the problem with the present set-up in the state is that the various departments of the government are implementing welfare schemes by themselves with the department for welfare of plains tribes and backward classes playing a monitoring role. A couple of years back, the commission had suggested to the state government to adopt the "Maharashtra model" by which the total funds for SC&ST could be given to the WPT&BC department which could then implement schemes according to the requirement. The state government, however, was not in favour of this proposal, the official said. That large sums of money for SC&ST welfare programmes are lying unused is only to be expected when the state level advisory councils for both the SCs and STs have not been meeting regularly. According to the commission official, meetings of the advisory councils are supposed to be held at least twice a year. Both the councils are headed by the minister for WPT&BC and the SC&ST Commission is also supposed to take part in the meetings, he said. The last meeting of the advisory council for ST was held on January 21, 1999, the official informed, and was supposed to meet again on January 28, 2000. This meeting, however, was rescheduled twice, for February 15 and March 18, but never held. As for the advisory council for SCs, it has not met in years, the commission official said. (Anujata Das Talukdar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 17, 2000)

AGARTALA, May 17: Tripura food minister Gopal Das threatened to apply Essential Commodities (EC) Act if the ration shop dealers did not call off their indefinite strike beginning from Tuesday. The government would take legal action under the EC Act against the striking All-Tripura Fair Price Shop Dealers' Association members unless they withdraw the strike, Das told reporters here. "All the 1413 registered fair price shop owners throughout the state downed their shutters today in response to the strike demanding increase in commission for selling PDS goods, supply of better quality rice, flour and other materials by the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The government had already increased the commission of fair price shop dealers and another hike was being considered though the department had to bear an additional burden following the increase in price of PDS goods, the food minister said. The decision to go for an indefinite strike would cause extreme sufferings to the people of the state, Das said. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 18, 2000)

NEW DELHI, May 19: In a first ever organised move to market food products and beverages of the Northeast in the rest of the country, the Union agriculture ministry has mooted the idea of running a special rail goods service from Guwahati to New Delhi. This and several proposals pertaining to marketing and procurement of food products, vegetables and handicrafts to name a few, is likely to the subject of discussion at a conclave organized by the NAFED at Guwahati on May 24. The day-long meeting is being attended by state government and other cooperative marketing institutions of the region, besides the various central government agencies concerned with agricultural marketing including the railways, said the managing director of NAFED, Priyadarshi Thakur, at the inaugural function of an exclusive Northeast corner of NAFED bazar. The Northeast corner, where products of the region ranging from canned fruits, juices to handicrafts are available for sale, was inaugurated by Union agriculture secretary, Bhaskar Baruah at a simple function, this afternoon. Addressing the function, Baruah said the proposal to run a special wagon service for food products and beverage to Delhi was under consideration. He also added that there was a tremendous potential for marketing the dry food products of the Northeast. (Staff Correspondent; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 20, 2000)

NEW DELHI, May 21: Gross discrepancies in accounts and financial transactions in the nine autonomous district councils of the Northeastern region, running into hundreds of crores of rupees, have made the Union government see red, even as pressure has mounted on the Centre to enforce some accountability to check the irregularities. The details of the financial bungling detected by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and released by the Union finance ministry, here last week, has put a question mark over the manner in which the central government has been disbursing funds in the region. The issue even figured during the recent debate in the Rajya Sabha on the internal security situation in the Northeast, with several members questioning the government's policy in this regard. Irregularities and misuse of central assistance were detected in all the nine autonomous councils in the four states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. The autonomous councils include the North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong, Khasi Hills, Garo Hills, Jaintia Hills, Mara, Chakma, Lai and Tripura tribal areas. Take the case of Karbi Anglong Autonomous District Council, where the CAG has detected that the profits and loss account according to treasury books showed a balance of Rs 9.89 crore, whereas the cash book balance showed a negative balance of Rs 1.53 crore. A case of defalcation worth Rs 31.89 lakh was also noticed. The figures showed that the Autonomous Council has not even been able to utilize funds worth 39.46 crore disbursed by the state government between 1990-91 and 1994-95. Again, grants to the tune of Rs 47.86 lakh, were utilized for purpose other than for which it was sanctioned, the CAG reported. The North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council, on the other hand, unauthorisedly utilized unspent funds to the tune of Rs 1.25 crore for inherent functions, instead of refunding it back. It also sustained losses of Rs 35.33 lakh due to short removal of bamboos by the lessee. What is more, a discrepancy of Rs 11.65 crore was noticed between the cash book balance and treasury records. In case of Khasi Hills Autonomous Council, among other things, it was noticed that the closing balance shown in annual income was less by Rs 14.06 lakh, while the Council was found to have incurred a wasteful expenditure of Rs 8.21 lakh under the Plantation Scheme. The Garo Hills Autonomous Council failed to recover land revenue aggregating Rs 26.53 lakh, besides inflating its utilisation certificate by Rs 1.08 lakh. The CAG while scrutinizing the accounts of the Jaintia Hills Council detected a discrepancy of Rs 75 lakh between cash balance and treasury records. Besides, a coal royalty of Rs 1.32 crore collected by the Council was not paid to the state government. The council without any authorization invested Rs 70 lakh in term deposit, even as an unspent balance of Rs 38.55 lakh was shown as expenditure. In Mizoram, the Mara Autonomous Council was found to have misappropriated Rs 4.60 lakh by irregular maintenance of cash book. Again, contractors and junior engineers were detected as having been paid excess to the tune of Rs 53.76 lakh on various occasions. (Kalyan Barooah; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 21, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 22: Union Railway minister Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone of the gauge conversion project of New Jalpaiguri-Siliguri Junction-New Bongaigaon metre gauge section at an impressive function held at New Jalpaiguri station yesterday afternoon. Under the project 280 km of metre gauge track will be converted into broad gauge. As part of the project, sanctioned in 1997-98 at a cost of Rs 516 crore, 76-km Alipurduar-Banarhat and 61-km Fakiragram-Dhubri metre gauge section will also be converted into broad gauge. Later, the Railway minister flagged off the inaugural diesel engine-hauled train on the Darjeeling Himalayan narrow gauge section at the same venue. The Union Railway minister also laid the foundation stone of the New Maynaguri-Jogighopa new railway line at another impressive function held at New Maynaguri yesterday. The proposal for the new railway line was included in this year's Railway Budget. This new line will serve a large area of North Bengal and Assam providing an alternative railway route between West Bengal and Assam. A sum of Rs 6 crore has been allocated in this year's Railway Budget for the survey to be completed within this financial year. Once the survey is completed, the construction work will be taken up. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 23, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 22: The development commissioner (handicrafts), under the Union ministry of textiles, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is soon going to set up 20 common facility centres (CFCs) in the Northeast to facilitate an improvement in quality of handicraft products. This will help in creating a distinct niche in the export market. Three such centres are already functional in the region - at Garchuk, near here, and at Agartala. The three CFCs, funded by the Centre, started operations in the early part of this year, said Lian Za Go Hatzaw, Regional director (Handicrafts), Northeast, while speaking to The Assam Tribune. According to Hatzaw, the CFCs will improve bamboo processing while sparing the artisans valuable time from going to the jungles to procure their raw materials. He said bamboo cutting, splitting, etc will be done in the CFC and supplied to the artisans. The resultant superior finish of the products will help to improve the export potential of the region's handicraft products. The three CFCs already functioning are being run by the Northeast Handicraft and Handloom Development Corporation (Garchuk), the Tripura Handicraft Development Society (Agartala) and the Tripura Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation (Agartala). The 20 new CFCs, funded by the UNDP will be run by NGOs selected by the respective state governments, Hatzaw informed. The sites for the new CFCs have not been finalised as yet but they will be "spread all over the NE", he said. The CFCs will use machinery imported from Taiwan which are capable of processing bamboo and cane to the level desired in the export market. Each of these centres are being set up at a cost of Rs 35 lakh, the Regional director said. Hatzaw said the setting up of the CFCs will prove to be a boon for the estimated 10,33,000 craftpersons in the Northeast, most of them producing bamboo products. He said there is a lot of export potential for the NE handicraft products, though some exports are being made to places like Germany and the United states. "So far our technology has been quite poor compared to those of our competitors - China and Japan," said Hatzaw. The CFCs will go some way in offsetting that disadvantage. But it is not only quality improvement that is necessary. Also essential is new and innovative designs. The Development commissioner office has already waken up to this need by conducting over 20 design development workshops, benefitting over 300 craftpersons, in the last three years, at the Regional Design & Technical Development Centre. The Northeastern Development finance Corporation Ltd (NEDFi) is also setting up a cane and bamboo research and design centre at Guwahati, Hatzaw informed. The centre will come up soon, he said. "We have several programmes to introduce new designs through departmental training centres," said Hatzaw. An exhibition of the newly designed products will be organised this year at Guwahati to give exposure to the artisans and test the market, he said. According to Niralaxmi Palai, the deputy director (design), the design centre is trying to increase productivity and decrease wastage of time by introducing new tools and equipment. "We are developing design prototypes to suit buyers' tastes," she said. The design centre conducts market research regularly to keep tab of the people's tastes. "Our objective is to bring in new ideas and pass it on to the artisans so that they can remain viable in the competitive market," said Palai. (Anujata Das Talukdar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 23, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 22: The NABARD has sanctioned Rs 10.37 crore as loan assistance for completion of 47 ongoing minor irrigation projects throughout Assam to achieve an additional potential of 11,179 hectares, an official release said. The state has a total irrigation potential of 27 lakh hectares, out of which 6.41 lakh have been created so far as per the report of state irrigation department. This potential has already been achieved during the last four years, the report said. An irrigation potential of 1,770 hectares was created from seven major and medium projects under accelerated irrigation benefit programme (AIBP) in 1996-97, while in 1997-98 another 4,196 hectares were achieved. In 1998-99, total 4,725 hectares of irrigation potential was created. Eighty six minor irrigation schemes are going on for 12,745 hectares. Total 156 deep tubewell and 86 river pumping schemes (RPS) were installed for irrigation purpose in 8,900 hectares, with loan assistance from World Bank. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 23, 2000)

SHILLONG, May 23: Spurred by a severe rap by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, the Northeastern Council (NEC) is now contemplating to act tough against the Northeastern states by framing a time-bound action plan for implementation of NEC funded schemes. 'Time over-runs' and 'cost over-runs' are the most common features in implementation of NEC schemes so much so that it has become the accepted thing without any question being raised. The CAG in a recent report had strongly rapped the Meghalaya government and the NEC saying 'implementation of NEC sponsored schemes in the state was very tardy.' Citing an example, the report said five road works which commenced as early as between 1976 and 1989 were yet to be completed and there was cost over-run of Rs 14.54 crore on account of time over-run in completion of another five roads. 'Lack of monitoring the progress of work through realistic targets for completion was responsible for inordinate delay. The implementing authorities had not furnished utilisation certificate for the entire amount of Rs 51.84 crore in respect of the fund released by the NEC for implementing road schemes. However, the NEC had released funds in quarterly instalments without fulfilment of the condition of submission of utilisation certificate,' the report had observed caustically. Admitting the criticism of the NEC, a senior official of the apex planning body of the backward Northeast region said 'besides drawing up time-bound action plans the NEC is also thinking of choking the flow of funds to defaulting states so as to ensure timely implementation of schemes henceforth.' The NEC is convening a meeting of the chief secretaries of the Northeast states on June 15 next to finalise the 'action plan'. Earlier on April 26-27, a meeting of senior officials of the NE states was held to discuss the 'perennial problems' of implementation of schemes, another NEC official said. The official stressed that the problems were not confined to Meghalaya alone but have become 'endemic' to the entire region. But he had no answer as to why NEC continued to release funds when utilisation certificates were not forthcoming.'That was in the past,' was his lame excuse (Bedabrata Lahkar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 24, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 23: When the exclusive Northeast corner at NAFED Bazar was being opened at New Delhi, the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) requested the governments of the Northeast states to send products from their states to be displayed at the pavillion. None of the governments or their concerned agencies cared to respond. NAFED ultimately had to procure NE products by itself. The NE corner, displaying varied products of the region, was inaugurated by Union agriculture secretary Bhaskar Barua on Friday afternoon. The Union agriculture ministry has proposed the running of a special goods train service to market food products and beverages of the Northeast to the rest of the country. Contrast this with the fact that the only branch office of the NAFED at Guwahati has not been doing any business in the Northeast for the last several years and the reality sinks in. Fact is there is little meaningful business activity in the region in food products, whether raw or processed. The result is that the seven-member staff of NAFED at Guwahati are just whiling away their time. Although the NAFED branch here is suffering operational losses, political considerations have so far prevented the branch from being closed. NAFED is owned and run by the farmers through primary marketing cooperatives and state marketing cooperative federations and promotes cooperative marketing of agricultural produce for the benefit of farmers. It has been entrusted with the implementation of market intervention scheme (MIS) in perishable and other commodities. MIS is the scheme by which NAFED enters the market to stem large-scale fall in prices of agricultural commodities. MIS needs an agreement between the state government and the Centre, says L K Shukla, branch manager at NAFED's Guwahati office. And what about the lack of business? The NAFED official says that the main problem lies in the poor financial condition of the state cooperative marketing federations in the Northeast which are its procurement agencies. Compounding the problem is the absolute lack of farmers cooperative societies and the absence of a proper marketing structure. The Northeast badly needs processing and cold storage facilities to best utilise the agricultural produce. Such facilities have been virtually non-existent although the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) offers liberal assistance to farmers's cooperatives to set up such facilities. As Shukla points out, few have availed of the NCDC loans. But these are not the only problems faced in agricultural marketing in the region. Poor transportation, extortion at check-gates and few food-processing units have all added to wastage of the agricultural resources. The rich ginger harvest of the region is carried all the way to Delhi for processing resulting in over 20 per cent losses during transportation. There can be several times value addition if it is processed here itself. Shukla sees potential for at least 25 dry ginger plants in the NE. NAFED is co-hosting a conference in the city tomorrow on agricultural marketing support in the region. state level officials along with heads of the NAFED, TRIFED and Small Farmers' Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC) under the ministry of agriculture, are expected to participate in the deliberations. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 24, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 24: The Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) is facing severe financial crisis as the gap between income and expenditure is growing with every passing day and the failure of the state government to pay the subsidy due to the Board and the electricity bills has only complicated matters for the fund starved organisation. ASEB sources said that the monthly expenditure of the Board in now more than Rs 72 crore against the income of about Rs 35 to 40 crore. Due to this widening gap between income and expenditure, the ASEB has failed to repay its debts and the Northeast Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) has threatened to disconnect power supply to the ASEB because of the failure of the Board to repay the dues. Giving a break-up of the average monthly expenditure of the ASEB, sources said that on an average, an amount of Rs 33.48 crore is required to purchase power from the Meghalaya state electricity Board, National Thermal Power Corporation, Northeastern Electric Power Corporation, National Hydel Power Corporation, Power Grid Corporation of India Limited and from power stations at Adamtila and Baskandi etc. Sources said that in 1997-98, the ASEB required an amount of Rs 19.65 crore per month to purchase power from different agencies but the figure increased sharply to Rs 32.77 crore in 1998-99 and to Rs 33.48 crore in 1999-2000. Sources said that the cost of fuel to run its own power stations has come down from Rs 10.40 crore per month in 1997-98 to Rs 6.96 crore last year mainly because the Chandrapur Thermal Power Station has been closed down after sharp increase of the price of fuel oil and only one unit of the Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station is running at this moment. The expenditure on salaries of employees and general administration is also going up over the years. The monthly expenditure on salaries increased from Rs 12.50 crore in 1997-98 to Rs 18.70 crore last year, mainly because of revision of pay scale. However, ASEB sources said that the number of employees has come down to about 18,000 as some posts have not been filled up after retirement of employees. But at the same time, it is seen that the ASEB has become top heavy as it has as many as six chief engineers in charge of generation, distribution, materials, planning and project, commerce and civil works. Sources also said that the operation and maintenance cost of the ASEB is now about Rs four crore per month and the Board requires an amount of Rs nine crore a month for debt servicing of institutional loans. Due to the widening gap between income and expenditure, the Board has not been able to repay the outstanding dues. As per records available, the outstanding over dues of the ASEB as on March 31 this year for power purchase stands at Rs 65274.88 lakh, while the dues to the OIL, GAIL, ONGC, AGCL, IOC, Railways etc. stands at Rs 83160.50 lakh. Under the present circumstances, it is unlikely that the Board would be able to repay the dues. ASEB sources said that the monthly income of the ASEB should be about Rs 60 crore but the average income is only about Rs 35 to Rs 40 crore. Sources said that the failure of the government departments to pay the electricity bills is one of the main reasons for the failure of the Board to improve its income. The government departments are yet to pay about Rs 200 crore on account of electricity bills. Moreover, according to estimates prepared by the Board, it has to get more than Rs 2000 crore from the government on account of rural electrification and subsidy on power tariff. The Board also has to receive an amount of Rs 3214.80 lakh from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited and Rs 844.33 lakh from the Railways on account of electricity tariff. Sources also said that the state government has stopped paying the annual grant and only Rs one crore was released recently to repair and replace the damaged transformers. ASEB sources admitted that there is ample scope to improve the overall scenario. At present the transmission and distribution loss of the Board is 42 per cent, which is much higher than the national average. There is also scope to reduce power theft by improving vigilance. Interestingly, till date the ASEB has not taken any step to install metres at the quarters of the ASEB Colony at Narengi and the employees have to pay only one per cent of their basic pay as power tariff. (R Dutta Choudhury; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 25, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 24: Faced with a dismal agricultural marketing scenario in the Northeastern region that has stalled agro-development, officials of the NE state governments and representatives of cooperative marketing institutions active in the region put their heads together, during a day-long conference here today, to identify the marketing needs of the region and formulate a suitable strategy to meet them. Delegates in the conference were one in their opinion that there is ample scope to expand the agri-marketing network in the region that is still in its infancy. Agencies like APEDA, NHB, SFAC, TRIFED, NERAMAC, AFC, NEDFi, etc made presentations on their developmental roles and marketing support activities. The people of the NE states are not able to market their produce profitably due to inherent factors. They are also subjected to economic exploitation by private traders who purchase their produce and handicrafts at throwaway prices. Admittedly, the presence of cooperative marketing agencies has not been able to better the situation enough. "The operation standards of organisations perhaps does not match the ground situation in the region," said Assam agricultural production commissioner SK Purkayastha, in the meeting. He called for rules and regulations more attuned to the needs of the people. He also admitted that markets for agricultural products are few and fragmented. Regarding food processing units in the region, that can ideally go a long way in boosting agricultural marketing, Purkayastha said their history has not been particularly good. Managing director of the NAFED, Priyadarshi Thakur, called for revitalisation of cooperative societies in the region to bring about the desired results. He called for immediate measures to tap the domestic market for agro-products from the NE adding that there is a good market for quality products in the bigger cities of the country. Thakur himself admitted that NAFED's business in the region is so low that "it is unmentionable". He said such a situation cannot be allowed to go unquestioned. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 25, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 25: The Chief Minister, Prafulla Kumar Mahanta today said Indian missions in the South-East Asian countries were not putting sufficient efforts to market enchanting tourist destinations in the state and the Northeast as a whole. Mahanta who returned from Japan after attending the international conference on World Heritage at Kagoshima there, alleged that certain section of tour operators and Tourism officials in New Delhi did not encourage foreign tourists to visit Northeast region, even if, the latter showed interest in travelling to the region. The Chief Minister said this section of Tourism officials and tour operators for reasons best known to them tried to scare tourists bound for the NE saying that the region is disturbed and tourists are not welcomed there. Talking to the newsmen here this afternoon, Mahanta said the state government would take up the matter with the government of India very soon. The Chief Minister informed that on his way to attend the international conference on World Heritage at Kagoshima, he halted in Tokyo for two days to address the meetings of the International Frendship Exchange Council, Japan-India Cultural and Economic Exchange Committe and Japan-India Business Co-operation Committee (JIBCC). The meetings were attended by representatives of a number of leading Japanese companies, Airlines and tour operators. The state government made a presentation before them about the business and investment opportunities in the state. The Chief Minister said the Japanese business community showed special interests in joint collaboration and business partnership with Indian companies in information technology, bio-technology, medicinal plants, sericulture, tourism and major infrastructure projects including roads and power. The Chief Minister invited Japanese business delegations to expore investment and business possibilities in Assam. The Chief Minister informed that as many as 30 projects in different sectors were submitted to Japanese business community seeking investment and collaboration. He also said proposal had been submitted to help preserve river Island Majuli as natural heritage site in the International Conference on World Heritage. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 26, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 25: Work on the multi-purpose Pagladia dam project under Brahmaputra Board will be started within a couple of months. It was disclosed by the Union water resource minister, CP Thakur at a Press meet here today. The water resource minister reiterated Centre's commitment to complete Pagladiya dam project at any cost despite all odds. He said all affected people due to construction of the dam would be provided with adequate compensation. The minister also said that four top organisations under the water resources ministry - the Brahmaputra Board, Central Water Commission, Central Ground Water Board, and Water Power Consultancy Organisations - are working together to bring out a comprehensive water resources development package for the potent Northeastern region of the country. The minister today agreed that there was a vast potential of ground water resources in the region, but due to proper exploitation of the potential, the people of the region were suffering from drinking water crisis. He said the ministry would put up an all-out effort to remove the problem. Earlier, Thakur along with the minister of state for water resources, Bijoya Chakrabarty met officials of different organisations working in the Northeast under the ministry at the Brahmaputra Board office here. Addressing the officials, Thakur informed that he had brought the issue of underdevelopment of water resources in the NE Region to the notice of the Prime Minister. He further said the water resources ministry was eager to see the early implementation of Pagladiya Dam project with the active co-operation of the government of Assam. He also said Brahmaputra Board should take up flood management schemes so that tangible benefits reach the common people. He stressed on the need for taking up rain water harvesting schemes to meet the drinking water requirement in the region in the lean season. He also assured to fill up vacant key posts in Brahmaputra Board shortly. Addressing the meeting, the minister of state, Bijoya Chakrabarty said that Brahmaputra Board must take up flood management work in a big way. She expressed confidence that the Board would rise to the occasion to serve the people of the region. (Staff Reporter; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 26, 2000)

SHILLONG, May 26: Vast areas in the Northeast region may plunge into darkness from June 1 with the Northeastern Electrical Power Corporation (NEEPCO), which supplies 50 per cent of the region's power requirements, deciding to severely regulate power in view of the failure of the state governments to clear huge outstanding dues of over Rs 900 crore. Making the announcement at a press conference at the NEEPCO headquarters here today, its chairman-cum-managing director (CMD), PK Kotoky said "we have been compelled to resort to the drastic step for the sake of the survival of the organisation". He alleged that the state electricity boards and the state governments in the region have not responded favourably to the notice served on April 10 last asking them to pay 50 per cent of the arrears immediately and the balance by May 31. The non-payment of the dues have put the NEEPCO in dire straits forcing it to borrow a staggering amount of Rs 190 crore from financial institutions, at a high interest, the NEEPCO chief said adding even this course would be closed as financers specify that outstanding dues should not exceed two months sales while the arrears of the NE states range from 16 months in case of Tripura and 36 months in case of Assam. Of the total outstanding dues of Rs 933.61 crore as on April 30 last, Assam alone owed Rs 654.21 crore, followed by Manipur with Rs 120.93 crore, Nagaland Rs 59.11 crore, Tripura Rs 40.95 crore, Mizoram Rs 32.72 crore, Arunachal Rs 14.38 crore and Meghalaya Rs 11.31 crore. Asked about the responses from the states, Kotoky said Nagaland has offered to repay the outstandings in ten years while Assam which offtake power worth Rs 24 crore every month, is willing to pay only Rs 3 crore per month. "How can we accept offers like this ?" he countered adding "we want specific commitments from the states to clear their outstandings". The CMD hinted that the thermal power units of the NEEPCO may be shut down to save on consumption of natural gas on which the Corporation has run outstandings of over Rs 70 crore. The two gas-based units of the NEEPCO are at Kathalguri in Assam and in Tripura. Suggesting a way out of the impasse, director, finance, PK Chatterjee called for an amendment of the memorandum of association of the corporation enabling it to sell power outside the Northeast. "At present we can evacuate power outside the region only with the permission from the NE states", he said. (Bedabrata Lahkar; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 26, 2000)

KOHIMA, May 27: Nagaland government has decided to empower urban local bodies with administrative and financial autonomy in a phased manner, Chief Minister SC Jamir has said. A departmental committee had already been appointed to look into all the pros and cons of the matter and accordingly the municipal bodies would be empowered as per its suggestions, the Chief Minister told reporters here on Thursday. Jamir said initially town committees of Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung will be empowered with administrative and financial autonomy as per the 74th constitutional amendment. Several municipal bodies have been demanding autonomy as per the constitutional provision. (PTI; The Assam Tribune; Guwahati; May 28, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 27: The governments of the seven Northeastern states have called on New Delhi to facilitate trans-border trade with Southeast Asia by reopening the historic Stilwell Road, which was constructed before India's independence to link the region with China via Myanmar. "We have moved the central government to reopen the Stilwell Road and next month all the regional chief ministers shall meet the Prime Minister and urge him to expedite clearance of the proposal," Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi told IANS. The state governments say allowing business along the international border would bring about an "economic revolution" in the otherwise insurgency-ravaged and underdeveloped Northeastern region. The Stilwell Road was extensively used by the Allied forces during World War II. The historic road starts in Assam and passes through the Pangsau pass in Myanmar to Kunming in south China and it even links almost all the Southeast Asian capitals. The length of the Stilwell road is about 1,079 km. "Free trading between Southeast Asian countries and the Northeastern region can be possible with the reopening of the Stilwell Road and the Northeast has the potential to become the hub of business activities and the gateway to South Asian economic centres," Mithi said. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, in a recent meeting with the regional chief ministers, said the government would soon consider opening up of border trade with neighbouring countries as it could "provide a ready market for agricultural produce" from the northeast. Hopes were expressed that apart from giving a boost to the region's economy, opening up of border trade would ease the separatist insurgent movements to a great extent. "Once border trade gets going, there will be many avenues for the youths and in that way frustrated youths will then go in for businesses instead of taking to arms," Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said. Border trade on a daily basis takes place only at Moreh in Manipur following the signing of a trade agreement between India and Myanmar in 1995. Automobile spare parts, fruit, foodgrains, vegetables, textiles and cotton yarn are some of the items which are in great demand in almost all neighbouring countries, while Indian traders are generally interested in foreign goods like electronic gadgets, synthetic blankets, teak wood, gold and precious stones like rubies. Assam, the gateway to the northeast, is about 2,000 km from New Delhi and about 3,000 km from Mumbai. Yangon and Bangkok, and even some Chinese cities, are closer to most of the Northeastern states than Delhi or Mumbai. Kunming in China is only 1,079 km from Ledo in Assam, the starting point of Stilwell Road. The demand for opening up of road links to Southeast Asia has become strident with the regional governments citing statistics which show that only 250 km of the northeast's 5,000 km outer perimeter abuts on India while the remaining 4,750 km shares international boundaries with China, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal. (India Abroad News Service; The Times of India; New Delhi; May 28, 2000)

GUWAHATI, May 30: Assam and her sister states face a blackout from June 1 following the Northeastern Electric Power Corporation's (NEEPCO) threat to cut off power supply to the SEBs unless a bill of Rs 934 crore is cleared. With a three-year due of Rs 625 crore, Assam is the major defaulter. The power scenario would aggravate if NEEPCO goes ahead with amending the NEEPCO Act, which restrains the Corporation from selling power to areas beyond the north-eastern states. This drastic step, in the pipeline for some time, is expected to rescue NEEPCO from impoverishment forced upon by the region's virtually bankrupt SEBs. According to NEEPCO chairman and managing director PK Kotoky, the key Corporation would supply only regulated power to the region's states. "Since we cannot shut down our generating units, we shall generate power enough to keep the machines charged," he said. For instance, only one module of the Assam Gas-Based Power project at Kathalguri in Upper Assam would be operated from June 1. This would mean a generation of a maximum of 90 MW by the unit with an installed capacity of 291MW. Likewise, the Agartala Gas Turbine project would also run at one-third its capacity. "Our reminders to the SEBs had little or no response at all," Kotoky said. "We had on earlier occasions threatened to curtail supply, but there's a limit to everything. Owing to non-payment of dues, NEEPCO has been borrowing heavily just to pay salaries to its staff." Assam owes the most to NEEPCO, the unpaid bill coming to under Rs 625 crore. Manipur follows with a due of Rs 120 crore. The remaining due is almost evenly shared by Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura. Top NEEPCO officials also hinted at changing the NEEPCO Act. A change in this Act would enable NEEPCO to export power without having to first meet the requirement of the Northeastern states. Meanwhile, the NEEPCO threat seems to have awakened the Assam state Electricity Board (ASEB) from a deep slumber. The Board has asked industrial establishments in the state to make alternative arrangements during peak hours in view of a shortfall of 150MW per day. (Rahul Karmakar; The Hindustan Times; New Delhi; May 31, 2000)