Trinamul Congress MP Shanta Chhetri on Wednesday wrote to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking a separate budget for hilly regions, rekindling a decade-old demand for the distinct recognition of such geographic areas.

In her letter, Chhetri, a Rajya Sabha member, said the budget was always plains and coastal-specific, resulting in most of the modernisation and economic development taking place in those regions.

‘….I humbly suggest a committee should be set up to study what would be most appropriate for the hilly regions’ scientific economic growth and based on those findings financial budgets should be presented specifically for the hilly areas,” wrote Chhetri, a resident of the Darjeeling hills.

In the past, social organisations in 12 hill states of India had sought separate development politics for mountainous regions.

The Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI), which draws members from different walks of life, including bureaucrats, politicians, academics and students, took the lead on the demand. “We believe (government) policies do not really take into account the realities in mountainous areas. Schemes are drawn up in Delhi and many of them are more suited for the plains,” Fantry Mein Jaswal, a member of the IMI, had earlier said.

The IMI has been stressing the need for a separate ministry or at least distinct policies for hills. The ministry of environment, forest and climate change has created a separate mountain division.