ITANAGAR, Jan 18: Deputy Chief Minister and Minister In-Charge Finance Chowna Mein today while participating in the virtual pre-budget meeting of the Finance Ministers of all states/UTs chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman from the state capital sought more Central financial assistance for Arunachal Pradesh for realising its immediate developmental goals.
Stating that the people of Arunachal Pradesh have greater expectation from the Centre in terms of development of infrastructure, roads, railways, waterways and airways, border areas, health, education, financial inclusion and incentivising suitably for being a carbon-sink state, Mein asserted that the unprecedented development that has taken place in the last 5-6 years needs to be continued to bridge the developmental gaps which have remained unattended for decades since independence.
While expressing thankfulness to the Central government for allowing the states to tap additional market borrowings, Mein requested the Union Finance Minister to allow Arunachal Pradesh to tap the borrowings by delinking the same with the reforms such as EODB, One Nation One ration etc. The state has taken major steps in reforms and achieved major milestones too, however, lack of net connectivity and remoteness has hampered the progress to some extent, he stated and sought Green Bonus for the Himalayan States reasoning that 15th Finance Commission in its interim report has given weightage of 10% to Forest & Ecology for determining the horizontal sharing of Central taxes among states. 
Deliberating about Arunachal’s long international borders with China, Bhutan and Myanmar, Mein said that some of the border areas are witnessing migration of population to the foot-hills due to lack of connectivity and other basic facilities. Importance of these areas near the Indo-China border in terms of national security can’t be underestimated, he said, adding that it’s only through rapid development and connectivity of roads any foreign misadventure can be thwarted. While informing the Union Finance Minister that a comprehensive scheme for infrastructure development along the Indo-China border is now under active consideration of the Central government, he sought her support for its early approval.

Reiterating that Arunachal Pradesh is perhaps the only state in the country which has been deprived of externally-aided projects from organizations like World Bank, ADB, JICA etc., Mein requested the Union Finance Ministry for suitable alternative arrangements. He also requested for release of funds under Centrally-sponsored schemes as the implementation of some of them have suffered a serious setback due to Covid pandemic. While reasoning that the state has lost crucial two months due to conduct of the local body elections coupled with a difficult year due to the pandemic, he requested the Centre to consider releasing the next instalment of CSS without any preconditions. He also expressed the need to extend Social Security Scheme Banking services to all the unbanked areas of the state through opening of new branches and Customer Service Points (CSPs) to cover all beneficiaries especially in rural areas for wholesome financial inclusion. He further proposed to increase lending to the priority sector so as to benefit the unemployed youths and needy people throughout the state and further pressed to provide broadband connectivity in all areas by way of optical fibre connectivity.  
Deliberating on the state’s battle against Covid-19, Mein said the focus of the state government in the short run is to control it by effective COVID management, saving lives and providing sustainable livelihoods to its citizens. He further said that in the long run plans are being pursued to achieve sustainable development goals by increasing farmers’ income, reducing poverty, providing drinking water to all, making available quality affordable health care, quality education, skill development and basic infrastructure for economic activities and attracting private investment in the state. 
While thanking the Union Finance Minister on behalf of the state’s people for providing effective leadership during COVID pandemic and steering the economy in the most difficult of times, the DCM urged the Union Finance Minister to release the share of central taxes from the month of January 2021 in full. 
Principal Secretary (Finance) A C Verma, Commissioner (Planning & Investment) Prashant Lokhande and Secretary (Finance) Y W Ringu accompanied with DCM in the virtual meeting. Union Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur also participated in the meeting. DCM Media Cell

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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