Sustainable Development Goals

The article notes that the north-eastern states have taken many initiatives to implement and localise the Sustainable Development Goals. But achieving the targets require a multipronged approach, concerted and coordinated efforts, and focus on sectors where the region has inherent advantages. Unfortunately, the pandemic has cast some doubts on the feasibility of achieving the goals as per the original timelines.

Views expressed are personal.

The north east of India—covering the states of Sikkim and the seven “sisters” of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura—is endowed with rich natural resources. It comprises 7.98% of the total geographical area of the country and has 3.78% of its total population, with the population density varying from 17 per square km in Arunachal Pradesh to 398 per sq km in Assam. It has long international borders with Nepal, Bhutan, China, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. The Scheduled Tribes (STs) constitute 27.70% of the total population in the north-eastern region (NER), with states like Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland having ST population above 85%. The NER is one of the less developed regions of the country. It faces many challenges; the important ones being poor infrastructure, particularly in the area of connectivity; remoteness; hilly and difficult terrain; high operational costs; lack of employment opportunities; subsistence farming; resource constraints, etc. On many critical parameters in the fields of health, education, infrastructure, etc, the states in the North East are below the national average. Not only is the North East less developed as compared to other states and union territories, but there are also wide interstate and intra-state disparities in terms of the level of development. However, the NER has immense potential for development.

Macroeconomic Scenario