Governor addresses the ninth session of the seventh Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
By The Space
The Governor of Arunachal Pradesh Brig. (Dr.) B.D. Mishra (Retd.) addressed the ninth session of the seventh Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, which is the budget session in the State Legislative Assembly on 11th March 2022. He said that the annual budget session of the legislative Assembly assumes a great importance as budget is not just an accounting exercise of receipts and expenditure but it is the vision of the Government for the welfare of its citizens.The Governor said that the present budget is the resolve of the State Government to live up to the expectations of the people. He wished that the budget session be guided by six pillars, i.e. 1. (i) Investing in health sector, (ii) Investment in human capital, (iii) Atmanirbhar Arunachal Pradesh (iv) Synergy and convergence (v) Governance reforms and prudent financial management and (vi) Environment protection and climate resilient infrastructure.
While wishing that every minute of the budget session will be use in the best interest of the people of Arunachal Pradesh, the Governor said that the State Government is committed to the purpose of public service delivery and ensuring responsive and effective governance. I am sanguine that all of you would put in your best efforts in making Arunachal a shining Star in the East. Let’s work together in achieving the target set by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji that no citizen should be left behind. Let’s work together for the all-round and inclusive development of the State, he said.
The Governor urged the members of the State Legislative Assembly to have pan Arunachal view and vision, continue to lead by example and ensure equitable, non-discriminatory, sustainable and consistent development across the state. He reposed his confidence that with their support and with the leadership of Chief Minister Shri Pema Khandu, the people of the State will be able to realise the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and make Arunachal Pradesh an economic growth engine of North East India and gateway to the South East Asia.
The Governor said that despite the critical challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the State Government has displayed exemplary prudence in financial management. It goes to the singular credit of the Government that all developmental schemes and all our committed liabilities like salaries, wages, pensions, loan repayment etc. have gone on without any default, he said.
The Governor said that the focus area of the Chief Minister Shri Pema Khandu has been ‘Government Process Re-engineering’ for administrative efficiency and transparency. The 100 percent implementation of e-Office in civil secretariat has been a major achievement this year. Hon’ble Legislators must be proud of the fact that our State is one of the few States in India which has achieved this 100 percent e-office. With your cooperation the Legislators, we would now implement e-office in all the Directorates, and all Districts, he said.
The Governor said that while the State has witnessed an unprecedented pace of development in recent times, the people need to sustain the same by developing a favorable eco-system. Many of our development projects are getting into time and cost overruns because of delays in land acquisition. We need to provide fair compensation to our farmers for acquiring their land. However, the process gets mired in disputes due to various reasons, he said while appealing the Legislators to create a favourable climate so that land is expeditiously acquired for development projects.
The Governor requested the legislators to give leadership in their areas to get rid of the menace of Bandh Culture, which otherwise would throttle our development. He also mentioned about gender equality, women empowerment and female child education. We need to preserve ‘equality’ as an integral part of Arunachal’s culture and ensure that the girl child gets more than deserved care in all fields including health, education and social welfare benefits, he said.
The Governor appealed to the legislators to spread the message of ‘Reduce-Reuse-Recycle’ for sustainable management of our resources to improve cleanliness in the villages and towns and to prevent plastic pollution.
While stating that harnessing the rich potential of Information Technology and Digital Transformation is the best way for making the government process citizen friendly, the Governor appealed to the legislators to usher in IT for improving their interface with the citizens for eliminating the scope for misuse of discretion, delays and corruption. He informed that several steps have been taken to bridge the Digital Gap of the strategically located State to provide robust digital connectivity. Under Bharat Net, 716 VSATs have been installed in unconnected areas of Arunachal Pradesh in various unconnected villages, Primary Health Centers, Schools, Police Stations. The Government of India has also approved providing 4G connectivity to 1,683 villages through 980 mobile towers, he said.
The Governor requested the legislators for their personal indulgence in making the ‘Atma Nirbhar Krishi and Bagwani Yojana’ successful by popularizing and monitoring the same, while informing them that till date more than 5000 farmers have been sanctioned subsidy and loans under this scheme.
The Governor said that tourism would remain the main strength of the State as it would generate income for the people of Arunachal Pradesh. However, we need to focus on responsible tourism so that we do not damage our environment. Community based eco-tourism is the best model for our State, he said.
While informing the house about the completion of 11,498 km road and 96 long span bridges construction providing all weather road to 1,273 habitations under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, the Governor appealed to the members to deliberate on the need for further increasing the technical capabilities and execution skills by putting emphasis on training and capacity building of the engineers. He also informed that the tunnels at Nechiphu and Sela pass are slated to be completed before August 2022 and Survey & Investigation for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) on the proposed Frontier Highway has started. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has awarded these works in 9 packages, he said.
The Governor said that in an effort to connect the towns and cities of the State to the rest of the country and improve all weather accessibility, the State Government has taken several initiatives to commission new airports and heliports and revive old ones. Airports at Pasighat and Tezu have been fully operationalized. He informed about the progress of construction works of Hollongi Greenfield Airport which is likely to be commissioned by August 2022.
The Governor said that the Government of Arunachal Pradesh has resolutely committed itself to a ‘Climate Change Resilient and Responsive Arunachal Pradesh’ in tune with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘PANCHAMRUT’ commitment given to global community at United Nations Climate Change Conference at Glasgow to usher in ‘Green Development’. The State Government’s Pakke Declaration is the first of its kind sub-national commitment to climate responsive action which we intend to take through the five broad ‘Panch Dhara’ elements and the 75 strategies underpinning them.
The Governor informed that the in a ‘significant step’, in the history of grassroot democracy in the State, the State Government has devolved powers to the Panchayati Raj Institutes in 29 subjects. The devolution of power is based on the Sustainable, Participatory, Inclusive, Comprehensive and Empowerment - SPICE formula evolved after several brainstorming sessions by the State Government, he said.
Highlighting on the education sector, the Governor said that the State Government is taking up digitization of the education sector and launched the new integrated web portal which is equipped with innovative modules ‘Know Your Teacher and Register your Issue and Grievances’. The first e-learning studio is being developed, which will provide Education to GSS and GHSS through Virtual Mode. A State Level Task Force for implementation of National Education Policy has been notified and webinars are being held to disseminate the policy to all the stakeholders, he said.
The Governor further said that to promote learning in the mother tongue, the Department of Education has come up with books in Nyishi, Wancho, Galo, Tagin, Kaman, Taraon, Idu & Tangsa languages, and more tribal languages will be covered, in near future.
The Governor said that as a society, the people need to work collectively to get rid of drug menace so that the youngsters don’t fall into this vicious trap. He appealed to the Legislators to work in a mission mode on this. He suggested for channelizing youthful energy through investigating significantly in creating sports infrastructure throughout the State, while referring the notification of ‘Arunachal Pradesh Policy on Psychoactive Substance 2021’.
The Governor said that Arunachal Pradesh Police has become the first Police Force to have achieved complete successful migration of the CCTNS infrastructure into Meghraj Cloud based Data Centre. This shall reduce costs and enable easier access. Despite Connectivity issues in the State, we have managed to ensure that most of our police stations are connected to the system, he said.
The Governor said that taking the reform initiative forward, the State Government has signed MoU with Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, North-East Space Application Centre, Shillong and National Institute of Smart Governance, Hyderabad for improving capacity of governance in Arunachal Pradesh. Furthermore, State has invested heavily in training of APCS officers. It’s a matter of pride for us that for the first time in its history, the prestigious Lal-Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, accepted a batch of state civil service officers for conducting their induction training, he said.
In his address, the Governor said that the development of Border Areas has been our priority. He thanked the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India for launching Vibrant Village Programme for integrated development of the border villages.
The Governor said the the people of Arunachal Pradesh are proud and patriotic citizens and they always support the Indian Armed forces in border areas. He said that there is an excellent civil-military relation in the State.
Highlighting the achievements of the State Government, the Governor mentioned the paperless e-Cabinet, e-Assembly initiative, e-Abkari, State-Wide Area Network, Single Window Portal, e-Pragati, which shows the commitment at the highest level of State administration, employment of 1162 persons through APSSB, 200 Sarkar Aap Ke Dwar camps to ensure that government and government services reach the doorstep of far and remotely located citizens away from the administrative headquarters, State level Conference on Sustainable Development Goals, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Swavalamban Yojana, launching of Arunachal Pradesh Innovation and Investment Park to support the entrepreneurial youth, completion of the work on 600 MW Kameng Project, Golden Jubilee Border Village Illumination programme, comprehensive scheme for strengthening of transmission & distribution System in Arunachal Pradesh, Chief Minister’s Social Security Scheme and Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s Bal Seva Scheme. He also mentioned about Medicine from the Sky, Swamitva scheme, Chief Minister Comprehensive State Road Plan 2019-2024 for connecting SDO and ADC headquarters and Arunachal Jal Sankalp in his address.
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