SHILLONG, December 2: The much talked about restructuring of the Northeastern Council (NEC) will not be of much use if the priorities of the council are not completely overhauled for the real development of the region. "Restructuring of the council per se will not be of much help if the thrusts of the council are not changed," a top advisor to the NEC said. He said that in the last 25 years, almost 95 percent of the projects have been sanctioned for building power projects and roads, but the real need of the region is giving more importance on agriculture and allied sectors. With a large population in the region dependent on agriculture and allied areas, the premier development council of the region has been totally neglecting the real development issue of the region. "Colossal sums of money have been spent on building power projects and roads, many of which have not seen the light of the day," the official said, adding that investments in agriculture projects cost much less and would have definitely shown results. A sum of Rs 7 crore has been given for the Ninth Five Year Plan for agriculture and allied sectors for the council, which is not at all adequate for agriculture development of the region, as different states have different requirements. "As a consequence of neglect of agriculture by the council, the region, despite being rich in agriculture, still has to import foodgrains at a huge cost," a senior official said. Though the restructuring issue has been in the news, the Bill is yet to be placed in Parliament and officials are not sure when it will be placed. A section of officials, who have been working in the council since inception, said that the body should be autonomous in character and should not be under the home ministry any more. "The existence of the council is of no use if one has to depend on the clearance of the projects from the Planning Commission, which often leads to conflicts," an official asserted. Good projects submitted by the states often do not get clearance from the Commission due to difference in approaches. The states are equally to blame, as there is no integrated approach with each one fighting on getting as many projects. "What needs to be done is that the NEC, after getting the projects from the states, should clear them and then only send them to the Planning Commission, which will also reduce the chances of rejection," a top advisor said. Though the council has built the roads, the states have been neglecting to maintain them. Many of the feasibility and market reports of the council are gathering dust as there has been no proper utilisation of the reports in practicality. With officers coming to the council mainly on deputation, there is also not much interest among them to serve as no clear goals have been set. There is no permanent cadre for the NEC even after more than two decades of inception. (Roopak Goswami; The Northeast Daily, Guwahati; December 3, 1999)

GUWAHATI, December 3: Betelnut producers of the Northeast are finding it difficult to send their produce to other states of the country because of "high security deposits" at the taxation check-gates. Sources said the Northeastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Limited (NERAMAC) had started supplying betelnut to the Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative Limited (CAMPCO) following the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on July 6 this year. But NERAMAC had to discontinue the sale to CAMPCO after the first consignment was despatched as they had to deposit a security amount of 8.8 per cent of the bill value at the taxation checkgate. As per the MoU, it was decided that NERAMAC would act as an agent for the Mangalore-based organisation and would supply 1,000 metric tonnes of betelnuts for a period of two years. "The marketing corporation had also requested the tax department to allow them to continue stock transfer without any security deposit, which the latter did not agree to," the sources said. They added that in the process, the farmers have become the worst sufferers. NERAMAC had started procuring betelnuts from cooperative societies in Nagaon, Barpeta, Howly, Bijni and Mangaldoi to sell it outright to CAMPCO. "At least the farmers could have earned a little more than the market rate if the deal with CAMPCO had continued," the sources said. "It is very surprising, as the government on one hand claims to work for the welfare of the rural producers while on the other hand it tries to burden them with unnecessary tax formalities," the sources complained. "While signing the MoU, many state government employees were also part of it. They should have clearly specified the tax formalities," they added. Meanwhile, officials of the marketing corporation have also submitted a memorandum to state Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, who is also the state finance minister, requesting him to grant a sales tax holiday on the sale of betelnut for a period of two years, the sources said. "The state government is yet to come out with any decision on the issue," the sources said. "The government should understand that their tall claims of encouraging farmers to boost agricultural production may soon backfire, if the farmers cannot sell their produce outside the state," they added. State commissioner of taxes TR Dey said betelnut sale is taxable as it is not considered an agricultural product. "While rice and potato are not taxable, onion traders need to pay tax," he said. Registered traders need to pay a tax of eight per cent for selling betelnut with an additional tax of 10 per cent on the tax. "In the process, the total tax comes to 8.8 per cent," the commissioner said, adding, "The amount is generally adjusted at the end of the year." The commissioner said the Centre had recently decided to standardise taxation in all states to bring about uniformity. "I don't know what the outcome was. There might be some kind of change in the taxation pattern in the coming years," he said. (Anirban Roy; The Telegraph, Calcutta; December 4, 1999)

SILCHAR, December 13: The Assam Hills Small Industries Development Corporation, a state government undertaking, is all set to revive its fortunes by promoting its products nationwide and for export. Its products include the Kanch brand of mustard oil and orange and pineapple squash, jam and jelly. The corporation, which has a state-of-the-art plant at Diphu in south Assam's Karbi Anglong district, had been down in the dumps because of mismanagement and poor marketing. It was closed for a considerable period of time in the Nineties but was reopened last year. New managing director of the corporation T Laskar, told newsmen that the undertaking would imbibe a new corporate culture to enable it to stay afloat in the fiercely competitive market. He said the corporation expects to achieve a sales turnover of Rs 2 crore in the current fiscal year. Laskar said the corporation's new product of Kanch mustard oil has already gained popularity in Assam's retail outlets. Buoyed by the market response to Kanch, the corporation has decided to hike the daily output of this mustard oil to three tonnes a day from 1.5 tonnes a day at present. Laskar added the corporation has received encouraging trade enquiries from Saudi Arabia for its pineapple and orange products. He expressed hope that it would be able to bag a large export order for jam, jelly and packed fruit pieces from the UAE and other Arabian countries. At present the Diphu plant processes 150 kg of orange and pineapple on an average everyday during the fruit season. Pineapples and oranges are made into different packed products for a maximum period of 45 days in a year. (Correspondent; The Telegraph, Calcutta; December 14, 1999)