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Text Speech of His Excellency Gen JJ Singh, Pvsm, Avsm, Vsm, (Retd) In the First Budget Session of the Fifth Legislative Assembly of Arunachal Pradesh

By Atum Potom

Quote, ‘Hon'ble Mr. Speaker and other Members of the Legislative Assembly,

1. It gives me great pleasure to welcome all of you to the First Budget session after the Election to the Fifth Legislative Assembly. I congratulate the Chief Minister Shri Dorjee Khandu, all cabinet members and all the elected members of the Legislative Assembly who have been given the mandate by the people to transform their hopes and vision into reality. This mandate is a sacred duty and my Govt. will leave no stone unturned in the realization of this noble goal.

2. The people of Arunachal Pradesh have reposed their faith in the policies and the activities of the State Govt. by voting it back to power in the recently concluded Assembly Elections. By turning out in record numbers, they have also demonstrated their love for the strong democratic traditions of the Country. I compliment all Arunachalis for the same. I also extend appreciation and greeting to the entire team of officers led by the Chief Electoral officer for the successful conduct of both the Parliamentary and Assembly Elections in the State.

3. Dear members, As a part of TEAM ARUNACHAL, you are the apex policy makers for the State and the decisions that you take in this important Budget session will certainly have a long-term impact on the lives of our fellow citizens. I am sure that this will be your guiding principle in the ensuing deliberations during this session. This session is also unprecedented in the sense that the pace of implementation of various projects has increased manifolds in the last few years and so has the availability of resources. I am sure that the vision for the management of these resources that the Hon'ble Finance Minister will lay before the House in this session will be the keystone of the edifice on which the development prospects of our State will be built in the coming year.

4. I am glad to note that the new Govt. has started working to fulfill the various commitments given to the people of Arunachal Pradesh. Towards this, my Govt. has already set in motion, the process towards fine-tuning the administrative systems to achieve its objective – ‘People First'. My Govt. should give highest priority towards providing a clean, efficient, transparent and people-friendly administration.

5. On this august occasion, I would like to highlight some of the achievements of the Govt. of the year gone-by and the vision for the year to come.

6. It will be the commitment of my Govt. to ensure maintenance of peace and tranquility in the State, to free the State from social injustice, ill-health and inequality and promote education amongst all, especially the girl child. It will continue to give priority to eradicating poverty and checking corruption while carrying forward the development agenda of providing maximum employment opportunities to the youth of the State. The Govt. will lay a special focus on harnessing the rich hydro-power potential and mineral resources and also go all-out in developing the tourism, agriculture and horticulture potential of the State. Preservation of the pristine forest areas of the State shall continue to be a priority sector. In its endeavor to successfully pursue this development agenda, the Govt. will continue to be guided by the twin factors of transparency and responsiveness.

7. My Govt. has always given highest priority to the maintenance of Law and Order in the State. The Law and order situation remained normal during the year. 51 cadres of various UG organizations surrendered in District Tirap, which is perhaps the highest ever in any single District of the country. The Govt. is actively considering the adoption of a Surrender Policy for the State which will inspire even more misguided boys and girls to give up the cult of the gun and join the mainstream. Two (2) District Jails and seven (7) judicial lock-ups have been created under Directorate of Prisons. The District Jail at Itanagar has started functioning w.e.f. 3rd Nov. 2009.

8. In the field of education, my Govt. has taken steps for the Universalization of Elementary Education with appropriate improvements in infrastructure. The Mid-day Meal (MDM) scheme is being implemented successfully in the State in which 1, 20,699 Children up to Primary Level and 60,650 in the Middle Level have benefited. My Govt. is also providing grants-in-aid to 38 different schools being run by NGOs. I am happy to inform you that a student of RK Sarada Mission School, Khonsa has won the first prize in the National level Science seminar 2009. To spread awareness about education in the State, the 43rd International Literacy Day was observed in all corners of the State on 8th Sept. 2009. The Sakshar Bharat Mission has been launched in the State and the proposal for inclusion of five Districts in the first phase has already been sent to the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India. However, we need to give formal training to many primary school teachers who are not adequately qualified and thus improve the quality of education in the primary sector. Shri Kapil Sibal, the Hon'ble Minister of Human Resources Development has assured that this deficiency will be made up by training the teachers in Arunachal Pradesh itself by his Ministry.

9. In Higher Education sector, in addition to the existing Govt. Colleges in the State, two more Govt. Colleges at Seppa in East Kameng and Nyapin in Kurung-kumey District are going to be established from the academic session 2010-11. The Govt. has also sanctioned the setting up of a National Institute of Technology (NIT) and seven polytechnic institutions in the State. I am proud to share with you that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has identified JN College, Pasighat as a center of excellence amongst the 149 colleges identified by it all over the country.

10. Health care is one of the prime attention areas of my Govt. and we are giving utmost priority to it. Inspite of problems of accessibility of remote areas as well as constraints of resources, efforts are being made by my Govt. on improving health status of people in rural and urban areas. Under National program for Control of Blindness, 1,172 cataract operations have been done till December 2009 and 14,235 school children have been screened for vision related tests. Intensive Pulse Polio immunization campaign in the State has been conducted and 3, 38,910 doses have been given to children below the age of five years. Till December 2009, 3,744 pregnant women have benefited under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).

11. With a view towards improving connectivity to remote and unconnected areas of the State, enhanced road connectivity continued to be one of the prime concerns of my Govt. We are also giving priority to improvement of intra-District road connectivity and connectivity to unconnected Administrative Centers in the State. The Govt. in the coming year will also focus on maintenance of porter tracks, log bridges and foot suspension bridges especially in the Border Areas of the State. The work on various stretches of Trans-Arunachal highway is progressing satisfactorily and the detailed project report for the Itanagar-Holongi Section under four laning of National highway 52A has already been submitted to GoI.

12. The construction of a State-of-the-Art Assembly Building and Civil Secretariat is underway with funding from the Ministry of DoNER. A ropeway project of a length of 1200 meters connecting the famous 400 year old Tawang Monastery with Gyanggong Ani Nunnery in Tawang is nearing completion.

13. The Department of Trade and Commerce has established a camp office of Tea Board of India at Itanagar. It will help in managing supply chain logistics of the various small Tea-growers of the State. An MoU has already been signed with Indian Institute of Foreign trade, Kolkata to study and prepare a road-map for development of exports from the State.

14. With sincere efforts, the Department of Tax and Excise has earned revenue of Rs. 122.02 crores during the year 2008-09. The State Govt. has enacted the Arunachal Pradesh Goods Tax Act 2005 and the same is under implementation.

15. With active persuasion of my Govt, the Govt of India has provided the necessary assistance for establishing a Coaching-cum-Guidance Center for SCs and STs at Naharlagun during the year 2008-09. It has become functional since June 2009 and is providing vocational guidance, training etc. to the unemployed youth of Arunachal Pradesh. The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Act is also being implemented in the State.

16. Our State is blessed to be drained by at least eight major river basins. The hydro-power potential of our State is estimated to be about 56,000 MW which is undoubtedly the highest for any State of the country. The State, the Govt has till date allotted almost 34,800 MW worth of hydro-power potential sites to various PSUs and other developers. It is heartening to note that over the 35 years from 1971 to 2006, we added only 1 MW per year of installed capacity whereas in the last two years, we have added 27 MW of additional capacity. The Department is trying to add 41.73 MW of additional capacity during 2009-10 through mini and micro-hydel projects and this will enhance the total installed capacity to almost 100 MW.

17. Under the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Viduytikaran Yojana, the Department of Power aims to provide electricity connections to all the Villages and Rural households by the end of 2012. Under this program, till date, the department has been able to achieve electrification of 238 villages and 1864 households. Under Prime Minister's Package, the Arunachal Pradesh energy Development Agency (APEDA) has provided Solar Home Lighting to more than 5800 households in 523 villages.

18. The Department of Water resources has created an irrigation potential of 1.88 lakh hectares which is inclusive of ground-water also. Flood Control schemes amounting to Rs. 68.29 crores are under implementation under various Flood Management Programmes. Under the Bharat Nirmaan Program, the Department is contemplating to create additional potential creation of 30 thousand hectares.

19. In order to prevent soil erosion and excessive siltation in rivers / rivulets, a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on Soil Conservation – namely ‘River Valley Project' is under implementation and two catchment areas –Dikrong and Jia-Bharali have been identified. During the year 2008-09, 10 such schemes were sanctioned under SPA and till November 2009, 65% works have been completed.

20. The Department of Urban Development and Housing has taken up several important schemes like Valmiki Ambedkar Malin Basti Yojana (VAMBAY) under which the Department has constructed 1293 dwelling units in eleven towns of the State. The Govt. of India has sanctioned 2 (two) projects - municipal solid waste management for Capital Complex and Construction of shelter for urban poor/safai karamcharis at Pasighat and Naharlagun.. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh has enacted 2 (two) Acts viz AP Municipal Election Act' 2009 and AP Municipality Disclosure Act' 2009 to pave way for setting up of Municipal Councils and Corporations in the State. At the same time, the Draft Master Plan for Itanagar Capital region has been completed by the Town Planning Department.

21. I am pleased to note the efforts being made by the Govt. in providing self-employment opportunities to the youth. The National Rural Guarantee Scheme has now been extended to all the Districts and during this year, 32,735 households in the state were provided employment under the scheme. Under the flagship Govt. of India – Pradhan Mantri Employment Guarantee Program, the State was able to achieve 100% result with a result that additional targets from other States of the country were diverted to Arunachal Pradesh. 886 youth are being trained at present at different craft centers across the State. A Skill Development Center has already been established and the proposal for setting up of Entrepreneur Training Institute is at an advanced stage. Further, the daily minimum wage rate has been increased from Rs. 55 to Rs. 80 this year.

22. It is an accepted principle of Modern Management that devolution and de-centralization of decision making always produces better and more effective results. My Government is committed to ensure devolution of powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutes. An amount of Rs. twenty one crores and four lakhs as TFC grants was released to Panchayati Raj Institutes during the financial year 2009-10. Fund for payment of Mobility honorarium to Panchayati Raj members and construction of Gram Panchayat Resource Centres was also provided during the current financial year.

23. It is my Government's commitment to protect, promote and preserve our unique culture and heritage and various efforts are being made to ensure this. The Department of Art & Culture is providing financial help as grant-in-aid towards construction and maintenance of Cultural halls and Community Halls. I am happy to share with you that the Deptt. of Art & Culture is soon going to set up a multipurpose cultural complex at Naharlagun. Besides, the Department also provides financial support for celebration of various festivals across the State.

24. Rural Road connectivity is a key component for sustainable rural development as it promotes access to economic and social services thereby generating better employment opportunities and increased incomes. Under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, we have so far connected 438 habitations to the main arteries. Another 513 small villages in remote Border Blocks are being taken up for road connectivity under the Prime Ministers package.

25. Last year, our State Information Commission brought laurels for the entire State by bagging the 1st National level RTI Award for the best State Information Commission in the country. This award is a testimonial of the high priority attached by the State Govt. to transparency in official procedures. I take this opportunity to congratulate the Chief and all the Information Commissioners for putting Arunachal Pradesh on the National map.

26. The State Co-operative Apex Bank has introduced Kisan Credit Card to ensure timely availability of loan to the farmers for growing seasonal crops. My Government is seized of the problem of State Co-operative Apex Bank and has initiated steps for its revival. The Government has so far invested Rs. 190.53. crores in the equity share with the Bank. The Bank has been able to regain the lost confidence of the people which emanates from the fact that 28,263 new accounts have been opened with fresh deposits of Rs. 3403.28 lakhs.

27. The Department of Industries has been playing an important role for promotion of industrial growth and generation of employment opportunities in the State. Centrally sponsored scheme like industrial growth centre (IGC) project at Niglok-Ngorlung in East Siang Dist. is being implemented for creating Industrial infrastructure in the State. The department has allotted 1 (one) acre of land for construction of cold storage and 30 acres has been earmarked for Bamboo Technology and Entrepreneurial Park. My Govt. has submitted proposals to GOI for development of Food Processing Industries in the State and it is under active persuasion.

28. The State is blessed with abundant mineral resources like Coal, Petroleum, natural Gas, Dolomite and limestone etc. Earnest steps are being taken to explore and exploit these resources judiciously. Recently, the Govt. of India has granted reconnaissance permits and Petroleum Mining Lease and Petroleum Exploration license to various PSUs and other agencies. Recently, the State Govt. has approved the setting up of a 300 MW coal-based Thermal Power Project at Kharsang. The Department of Geology and mining has collected Rs. 270.14 crores as royalty till Feb. 2010.

29. The people of Arunachal Pradesh, with their build and agility, enjoy certain natural advantages in many sports like judo, karate, archery, football, wrestling and shooting etc. It would be our endeavor to produce players of national and international repute in these sports by setting up adequate infrastructure and training facilities. This year, an amount of Rs. 8.1 crores has been provided under SPA for setting up Sports infrastructure at various District HQs. An adventure sports cum tourism project at Jote-Poma site on Poma River is also under the active consideration of the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India.

30. It is my Government's endeavor to promote tourism without disturbing the ecological and cultural balance of the State. Our state has numerous attractions for tourists seeking natural and adventure tourism. Last year, our Tourism Department received the best state award for development of tourism infrastructure form Ministry of Tourism, GOI. Today, I take this opportunity to exhort all of you to take committed steps towards making our State, the tourism capital of the country. While our designs of Tourist resorts must continue to be rooted in tradition, the construction and lay-out has to be state-of-the art and in accordance with the latest trends prevailing at International Levels. We must also focus on building modern convention centers with professional consultancy,

31. Arunachal Pradesh has the second large forest cover in the country and is a Mega Biodiversity hot-spot of the world. During 2009-10 the department proposes to re-generate almost 7095 hectare of forests under various schemes. For reclaiming of the abandoned jhum lands and degraded forests, the State Government is promoting the unique Apna Van plantation Scheme on Community land by providing subsidy @ Rs. 1200/- per hectare. Under the National Bamboo Mission, the Bamboo Mission Scheme is being implemented by the Department of Environment and Forests through Forest Development Agencies over forests lands and by Block Development Agencies over Non-forests land through Horticulture and Panchayati Raj Department. Measures are being taken by my government for improvement of Forest Rest Houses and Inspection Bungalows of the State and I am happy to share with you that a project for this is under the active consideration of NEC.

32. As the representatives of the people of our State, it is your duty to ensure that our development does not come at the cost of damage to the environment. Today, we are lucky to have almost 82% of our total land area under forest covers. While we embark on mega-infrastructure projects, it is our sacred duty to compensate for any loss of forest cover that may be associated with the project. We must also resolve to take steps for the protection and of our State Animal – the mithun and our State Bird – the Hornbill. In fact, mithun is found only in a few States of North-East and nowhere else in the world. We should take steps to associate the term ‘mithun' with Brand Arunachal and make efforts for propagation of this brand and spreading awareness about it outside Arunachal Pradesh also.

33. I strongly believe that due to the unique natural advantages enjoyed by our State, horticulture and allied activities can be a prime mover of the economic progress. Under the Horticulture Technology Mission, almost 50,000 hectares of area has been brought under horticulture crops and assistance for organic cultivation, honey production, floriculture has been provided to farmers. I have always advocated that Bee-keeping and honey production should be taken up in a mission mode with an ultimate aim of making our State, the largest producer of Honey in the Country. Honey production should not be limited to being merely a subsidy scheme of the Govt. but should mature as a self-sustaining income generating activity for the farmers like it is being done in many foreign countries and states of India like Punjab & Maharashtra.

34. Livestock, poultry and fish production have tremendous potential for improving the income levels of our people. Under active persuasion of my Government, the Govt of India has agreed to provide adequate assistance for fisheries sector to boost up fish and fish seed production in the State. Establishment of one Sub-centre on coldwater fisheries in Arunachal Pradesh has been approved by ICAR during the current year.

35. Agriculture is the backbone of the state's economy. My Government continues to promote mechanization of agriculture by providing subsidy for purchase of such machinery. The total production of food crops actually available for consumption came to 72.38% of total food requirement of the state during the year 2008-09. Commercialization of agriculture is the top priority of my government and all-out efforts are being made in this direction. Subsidy to the tune of Rs. 70,000/- per tractor was provided to farmers availing bank loan for purchase of 75 tractors in the current year. Besides 100 power tillers for which subsidy is earmarked @ Rs. 45,000/- each were provided to farmers. A new scheme namely “Double cropping” in Arunachal Pradesh with financial support from NEC on 90:10 basis is ready to be launched in the current in the year 2009-10 in the districts of Changlang, Lower Subansiri and Upper Subansiri. I am happy to inform this august house that the GOI has approved 8 of Krishi Vigyan Kendras at various locations in the State.

36. The Department of Textiles and Handicrafts has been providing training on several vocational activities in the field of handicrafts. It should also focus on generating self-employment opportunities for the unemployed youth of the State and on the revival of the Khadi and Village Industries Board. It should take a lead on promotion of our unique indigenous designs even outside the State to harness the rich potential of our products which have a high demand in the national and international markets.

37. The development of rural areas should be taken up in an integrated fashion by providing self-employment opportunities through women self-help groups. Their traditional knowledge and skill should now be translated into income-generating activities. Projects such as POMA Bamboo processing center have become model projects in such cluster based development approach and there is a need to adopt more such projects all over the State

38. With the development road-map of traditional sectors already in place, the State has also started taking its first steps in the field of Information and Technology. Single-window facilitation centers – JANSUVIDHA are being set up across all the DC offices of the State. The implementation of State Wide Area Network (SWAN) and Citizen Service Centers at 200 locations is likely to be completed within this financial year. A State Center for excellence in IT has been established the State has become the first in the country to upload the progress of various development schemes on its website. Two districts of the State telecast the poll proceedings from various polling stations live over the internet which was appreciated by the Election Commission of India which has asked other States also to adopt the same technology.

39. My Government attaches high priority towards providing safe drinking water to all the habitations. The availability of potable water has increased from 69.00 LPCD to 70.00 LPCD in the Urban Towns of Arunachal Pradesh. Efforts are being made to cover all villages in the State with potable drinking water supply facilities by 2011-12. State Government has initiated projects for protection of drinking water sources under the umbrella of National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme. Efforts are being made by the Govt. for establishing water treatment and filtration projects at several District Headquarters.

40. The people of Arunachal Pradesh have shown their strong commitment to the development of our State by giving a strong thumbs-up signal during the Public Hearing for the Greenfield Airport project at Itanagar. The environmental clearance for the project is likely to be received soon. I am happy to inform you that the project for upgradation of Tezu airport for ATR aircraft operation has also been sanctioned recently by NEC. In addition, the Defence Estates Officer has already started taking over sites for modernization and upgradation of 8 Advanced Landing Grounds in the State which should be re-named as Secondary Airports. All these steps will definitely give a boost to the air connectivity in the State.

41. In Arunachal Pradesh, the State Transport Services started functioning from December 1975 with 2 (two) buses plying from Khonsa to Naharkatia. Over the years its fleet strength has risen from 2 (two) buses to 244 buses which are now operating on 151 routes. The Government of India has provided 23 buses under JNNURM scheme. For the convenience of the citizens, the Department of State transport is also operating 5(five) Railway Passenger reservation systems at several locations in the State.

42. Streamlining of PDS was one of the priority areas of my Government and the Govt. continued with its efforts in this field by opening a separate regional office of the FCI for Arunachal Pradesh at Naharlagun. Besides, two new FCI depots, one each at Anini and Deomali were opened during the current year. Under the Annapurna Scheme, 4,761 beneficiaries and under the Antyodaya Scheme, 3,800 beneficiaries were provided benefit during this year.

43. Under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension scheme, the Deptt. of Social Welfare is providing Pension @ Rs. 200/- per month to old and infirm persons below the poverty line. Under The Relief and Rehabilitation Scheme for the year 2009-10 an amount of Rs. 10.00 lakhs has been provided to cover 100 beneficiaries. The Government has released grant-in-aid to NGOs for running homes for destitute children so as to provide them formal education, free boarding and lodging, Vocational training and rehabilitation. Under National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) benefit @ Rs. 10,000/- is being given per family in case of death of primary bread earner.

44. For undertaking infrastructure development schemes in notified areas of the State predominantly inhabitated by schedule Tribes, the GOI has earmarked Rs 738.00 lakhs during the year 2009-10. Under Supplementary Nutrition programme food is provided to the children in the 0-6 years age group and also to pregnant and lactating mothers. 255602 children beneficiaries, 43,649 mothers and 22,712 adolescent girls are proposed to be covered in 6028 Anganwadi Centers of all 93 ICDS Projects in the current year.

45. My Government is also keen for development of infrastructure at District, ADC, SDO and EAC Head-Quarter levels. In order to strengthen the District Administration, the Government has created new CO HQs and upgraded several CO and EAC HQs.

46. Hon'ble Members, discussions on several important issues will be carried out in this Budget Session. It is important for all of us to remember that whatever decisions we take should be with a vision of taking the fruits of development to the poorest and the most down-trodden sections of our Society. I recall Hubert Humphrey who had said – The moral test of the Government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life – the children, those who are in the twilight of life – the elderly and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy and the handicapped.

47. Apart from financial agenda, several important legislative businesses will be conducted in this session. My best wishes are with you for the successful completion of the budgetary and legislative business ahead. I wish you all well, and the ensuing deliberations, success.

Jai Arunachal. Jai Hind' –governor of Arunachal Pradesh