The industrial development in India has been dependent on the political influence and leadership ever since independence. It was because of the fact that no fair policy could be framed for equal development of all the regions of the country simultaneously. That is why some of the areas remained completely neglected and the others developed beyond limit resulting in heavy congestion. Besides, the metropolis and a few big industrial centers where opportunities are ample for industrial growth, there is vast disparity in the growth of industries in various regions. The industrialization of a particular area depends on the degree of political influence it has in its favour.
A few industries have been set up on the basis of availability of raw materials, which is the prime factor for consideration before taking up such projects. After coming up of giant steel plants of Bhilai, Rourkela and Durgapur, demand for such a project in public sector was raised from Bihar (now Jharkhand part) which resulted in Bokaro steel plant. On demands from Southern states of the country, the Salem steel project came into existence. The Barauni and Mathura oil refineries were set up at long distance from the raw materials belt. All these happened due to political influences and pressures. Had there been no pressure from the public the chances for Guwahati and Bongaigaon oil refineries were bleak. The commitments in Assam Accord for Numaligarh Refinery and other developmental works came after the people came on the streets agitating for those. The Accord is not fully implemented as yet due to lack of powerful leadership and will power of the ruling party. The northeastern states could not be developed industrially well despite enormous availability of raw materials in the region. Unless the administrations of these states get ready to create conducive atmosphere, the region is likely to lag behind in comparison to other states of the country.
In a democracy like India the representatives of the people have special role to play in the interest of the people whom they represent. Unfortunately a number of such representatives have no voice of theirs in the House of Representatives. They fail to bring prosperity for the people of the region they represent despite their commitments and assurances before they return to the Parliament or the state assemblies. On the other hand a few leaders strongly fight for the development of their constituencies and dominate over the others. They do their best for the improvement of the condition of their electorate.
The lack of education, awareness and extreme poverty added with immaturity of our people in maintaining high standards of democracy by keeping the faith above in principle leads to their maximum exploitation by the political leaders. Our innocent voters are allured by attractive slogans before the polls and they join this or that camp purely on certain temporary issues. This leads to unsuccessful attempt to solve their long -standing problems unless they get really a powerful leader to represent their cause.
For instance among the influential leaders who really worked for the development of their constituency, the former prime minister Late Indira Gandhi could be placed on the top. All round development of her parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli, which she represented for more than a decade from 1967 to 1977, is a bright example of such development, which could be called a forced development in other words. Practically having no resources for industrial growth Rae Bareli an unknown place for millions of the people till 1967 figured on the industrial map of the country within a very short span of time. Rae Bareli district was one among the seven most backward districts of Uttar Pradesh to which the Central government provided capital assistance. The district was primarily an agricultural belt and due to various schemes of the Central and the state government for many years, the environment for industrialization had been envisaged. Had she not lost the election in 1977 from this parliamentary constituency, the chances of its attaining the peak in development were much higher. But whenever the schemes came up during her time those were most successful and satisfactory. More than fifty large and medium scale industries were working in full swing. After assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984, although the Congress party itself represented this parliamentary constituency, but none of the leaders took interest in its development, which gradually diminished. The MPs like Arun Nehru and Sheela Kaul could not prove worth and during their period some of the industries collapsed. Now, Sonia Gandhi represents this constituency and despite non-Congress Party rule under the leadership of Mayawati in the state, she is leaving no stone unturned to fulfill the aspirations of the people she represents. Some new industries have been added to its industrial network. Another reason for industrial backwardness of the northeastern region is uncertain political situation for last two decades. The administration of the region has failed to bring a clean picture of schemes. The allegations of rampant corruption in various departments have further added to the deteriorating condition of the region. Continuous agitations and militant activities have destroyed the environment to a large extent. Efforts are on by the Center and state governments to bring conducive atmosphere in the region and once the peace talks mature and dynamic leaderships come forward, the chances of development can not be ruled out.
15 Aug 2008 - 11:42pm | editor
Guwahatians on Friday came out into the open to hoist the National Tricolour in various localities dotting the city and sent a clear message to the militants that no amount of threat can deter them...
16 Oct 2019 - 9:25am | AT News
Guwahati: The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) has honoured Dr Bhabadev Goswami, a leading Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist of northeast India, with its prestigious fellowship. The...
8 Nov 2017 - 7:55pm | AT Kokrajhar Bureau
Congress leaders and workers in Kojrajhar observed ‘Black Day’ to mark the one year of demonetization along with other parts of the country. Daily wage earner and tea estate workers expressed...
3 Dec 2018 - 2:56pm | Arnab Jan Deka
Prof Bhabananda Deka was the pioneer Assam economist and a leading litterateur of the golden Awahon-Ramdhenu era of Assamese literature, who not only devoted his life in scholarly works but also in...
Gamusas and Japis are two important items in Assam, which are in much demand throughout the year in the state especially during festival seasons and social functions. These items are demanded by the people to honor the guests and honorable persons during each and every event. However, it has been found that throughout the festival seasons the supply of locally woven gamusas are not according to demand by the customers. The reason behind it is said to be heavy cost of the locally produced items. On the other hand the weavers and traders from other parts of the country take advantage of supplying gamusas at cheaper rates and make more profit despite spending heavy cost on...
Archaeological Survey of India, Guwahati circle, has been trying to take-up the work of repairing of a broken pillar in the Mandap of Hayagriva Madhav Temple at Hajo for a long time. ASI, Guwahati has informed the media through a press note that one of the pillars of ancient temple was broken in three parts due to rusting of the iron dowels holding each other and the other developed cracks due to the same reason and widened more after the earthquake of May 2015. Hayagriva Madhav Temple is a reconstructed temple during the Koch period. The architectural parts of the earlier temple have been used for reconstruction. Different parts of the temple have been used randomly for making the pillars...
There is a generation gap between the signing of Assam Accord on the Independence Day 1985 and the present generation has to face new challenges to compete with the world class people in all spheres of development. The young people are confused over the airing of old issues which have lasted for long 31 years in absence of any solution. The issues pertaining to the Accord have become irrelevant under the present circumstances. The Assam Accord issue is still haunting and confusing the present generation due to absence of a clear picture. The fate of the Accord is not known to the people in general. A few politicians and intellectuals are trying to raise the issues of the accord from time to...
It is an established fact that a person involved in political activities cannot remain in peace till his cherished dreams are fulfilled. This can be noticed through the recent statements of former Assam chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, who has been expressing his views frequently in media against the four months old BJP-led alliance government in the state under the chief minister ship of Sarwanand Sonowal. He (Gogoi) dares to demand a ‘white paper’ from state government about the steps taken by it to clear the encroachments of forest and other government lands in the state and also to let the people of the state know, what action it has taken to identify and deport the foreign...
Addressing a huge gathering of residents of Udaypur, Jonakpur and Birubari at Udaypur Kali Mandir complex on Sunday, July 3, 2016, East Guwahati Assembly Member, Siddharth Bhattacharjee, emphasized the need of implementing the vision document of development as envisaged by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking at the function organized by Udaypur Yuva Sangha to felicitate him on his success in the recently concluded polls to the state Assembly, he conveyed his thanks to the people of the area for showing their confidence in him. He assured the people that he would not let their confidence go in vain. The meeting was presided over by Dr Phani Borah. Senior citizen of the locality Kartik...
Hardly a few days ago, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Alliance has taken the reign of Assam administration the results of efforts made by Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi to bring back black money to the state coffer, has started recently with the arrest of Dhemaji Divisional Forest Officer, Mahat Chandra Talukdar by anti-corruption department. For a long time the reports of wildlife crimes were in the air, but the previous state administration ruled by Congress Party under the three-terms leadership of Tarun Gogoi did not try to take any action. The former Chief Minister Gogoi was under a wrong impression that the people who gave him a...
A study conducted by B Boruah Cancer Institute, Guwahati, has revealed that during a decade from 2001-02 to 2011-12, cancer cases in the north-eastern part of the country have gone up from 5,404 to 8,708. A campaign, namely, Cycle 4 ride can help control this dreaded disease. In order to raise awareness to fight cancer a lady, namely, Marcellna Sangma, is going to lead a Biker Mission to 600 kms long stretch from Guwahati to Bum La Pass, near Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh. The ride is scheduled to be flagged off by Dr Amar Chandra Kataki, Director, B Boruah Cancer Institute, on April 21, 2016.Expressing her traumatic experience with cancer, Sangma, who was a cancer patient a decade...
Being disturbed since the first phase of polling for Assam Assembly on April 4 last, the Assam Chief Minister, Tarun Gogoi is finding it difficult to remember the history of Assam agitation propelled by All Assam Students Union (AASU) since the year 1979 to the Independence Day of 1985, resulting in the Assam Accord which was signed between the Assam Government and the movement leaders in presence of erstwhile prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Heavy polling beyond 85 percent of the electorate in the second phase also made Gogoi to think over the majority of young and new voters were not the ‘beneficiaries of getting blankets, yarn and mosquito nets’. They are young, energetic, literate and...
Continuing campaigns for Assam Assembly elections have confused the Assam intellectuals to raise vital issues before the future state legislators and improve the quality of political atmosphere affecting the entire society for quite some time. Almost all political parties have started ‘derogatory’ comments against their rivals for attracting the electorates by their acts and objectives about which they are themselves ignorant. The main reason behind such interpretation is lack of knowledge about the real issues on which the political parties are campaigning. Assam as a state of multi-lingual and religious people continued to be disturbed since the year1979, when several organizations under...
Long awaited North East Graduate Congress, an initiative of Education Research Development Foundation (ERDF) is going to be held from February 26 to 28, 2016. This is the only graduate congress in India being organized by University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya (USTM) in association with RIST and supported by the State Bank of India (SBI). The venue of the congress is the USTM campus at 9th mile, Khanapara. Addressing the media persons in Guwahati on February 14, 2016, the USTM spokesperson informed that the three days congress is aimed to enhance all round development and bring out the capabilities of future graduates through various life skill processes to bring out their...
Add new comment