N-E expects more funds from Govt

With Assam Rajya Sabha member Manmohan Singh becoming the Prime Minister, and P.R. Kyndiah 8212; hailing from the region 8212; becoming th...

With Assam Rajya Sabha member Manmohan Singh becoming the Prime Minister, and P.R. Kyndiah 8212; hailing from the region 8212; becoming the Minister for Development of North Eastern Region DONER, the North-East is expecting a bonanza of funds from the Centre.

8216;8216;With Congress leading the government at the Centre, we are expecting more funds here,8217;8217; said Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, who has been complaining for the last three years that the NDA regime has not been kind enough to the North-Eastern states.

Gogoi has already written to the PM asking him to review the Centre8217;s special economic package for the region and to increase fund allocation for all projects in the state. Even Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura 8212; the first two being headed by the Congress and the third being ruled by the Left Front 8212; are expecting more funds.

8216;8216;Since the new government is dependent on the Left, states like ours can expect a better deal from New Delhi,8217;8217; said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. With the lone Cabinet minister from the North-East in the UPA government hailing form here, Meghalaya has even more reasons to rejoice. P.R. Kyndiah, three-times MP from the Shillong seat, has been appointed the Minister for Tribal Affairs and DONER.

Two other MPs from Assam to have got MoS berths are Santosh Mohan Deb Silchar and Bijoy Krishna Handique Jorhat. While all the North-Eastern states put together had only one minister in the Vajpayee government, the UPA government has only slightly improved the situation with three. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, however, disagrees that this is an 8216;under-representation8217;. One should not forget that the PM is also from Assam, he said last week. Barring Assam and Meghalaya, all the other six states of the region have no representation in the government.

Of them, four states have no scope at all, because not a single Congress candidate has won from here. While both Arunachal Pradesh seats went to the BJP, the lone Nagaland seat was wrested from the Congress by the Naga People8217;s Front NPF, an ally of the BJP. The only seat in Mizoram was bagged by the Mizo National Front , a BJP ally. Sikkim8217;s lone Lok Sabha seat was won by the Sikkim Democratic Front. One of the two Lok Sabha seats in Manipur did go to the Congress, but it did not find a place in the UPA ministry, evoking much resentment in the state.