The Centre has allocated Rs 3,000 crore for DoNER, the nodal ministry which caters to the Northeast, while cutting down allocation for schemes of the North Eastern Council (NEC) and the Central Pool of Resources for Northeast and Sikkim.
The revised budget estimate of 2018-19 for DoNER ministry was Rs 2,629 crore.
Presenting the Union budget estimates for 2019-2020 in Parliament on Friday, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a slew of announcements.
On the outlay of major schemes, the Centre proposed an allocation of Rs 695 crore for the North East special infrastructure development scheme, while the corresponding figure in the revised estimates of 2018-19 was only Rs 140 crore. The figure shows an increase of Rs 555 crore.
However, NEC schemes have been cut down by Rs 27 crore from Rs 607 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 580 crore in 2019-2020.
Similarly, the Central Pool of Resources for Northeast and Sikkim has been decreased by Rs 250 crore, from Rs 781 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 531 crore in 2019-2020.
However, priority was given to the Northeast road sector development scheme by increasing its allocation by Rs 275 crore — from Rs 391 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 666 crore in 2019-2020. For welfare of Scheduled Tribes under the Union agriculture ministry, the budget allocated Rs 50.01 crore for organic value chain development in the Northeast.
The budget allocated Rs 825 crore for the Border Area Development Programme and Rs 3,462 crore for modernisation of police sources under the Union home ministry, which are relevant to the Northeast. It also allocated Rs 2,129 crore for border infrastructure and management. The home ministry has been allocated a total budget of Rs 1,19,025 crore.
Sitharaman also announced that with the objective of preserving rich tribal cultural heritage, a digital repository is being developed where documents, folk songs, photos and videos regarding their evolution, place of origin, lifestyle, architecture, education level, traditional art, folk dances and other anthropological details of the tribes in India will be stored. The repository will be further enriched and strengthened, she said.
