How Gaon Bura’s would be the highest beneficiary?

Nabam Tuki quoted “Recently our Government had increased the honorarium to Gaon Buras and Head Gaon Buras. If we are elected back to power, we will raise these to Rs 1000 and Rs 1050 for Gaon Buras and Head Gaon Buras respectively.”

But what brought the loudest cheer from the Gaon Buras and the people was the assurance of the Chief Minister to provide Gaon Buras with free power of two units, a mobile handset and a colour television set each if the Party is voted back to power.

Hence it is our duty to take care of Gaon Buras as well as empower the Panchayati Raj institutions,” Tuki pointed and highlighted the recent decisions of the government to devolve functions and financial power to PRIs.

SEZ in Arunachal Pradesh: An historic Promise

Highlighting the promises  if voted back to power, Tuki informed of the Special Economy Zones (SEZs) proposed to be set up in the state. These SEZs would include Pharma & Medical Tourism SEZ, Information Technology SEZ, Knowledge City and Fruit and Food Processing Industrial Zone.

Referring to the potential of Bhalukpong, situated in the foothills bordering Assam, Tuki felt that one of the SEZs could be established in the area.

pharmaceutical SEZ will be established in the foothills to attract pharma companies to set up factories while Medical Tourism SEZ will facilitate traditional healing alternate medicine and herbal therapy.

 A special SEZ has been proposed in urban area exclusively for the IT sector that would also include assembly plants and call centers. A Knowledge City would promote education and academic activities while the Fruit and Food Processing Industrial Zone will cater to the abundant produces from across the state.

RSBY health insurance scheme in Arunachal Pradesh: What it tells?

Highlighting the scheme, Tuki said that it would help provide quality healthcare to all the beneficiaries which will help bring down the mortality rate.

He also informed that the service providers, the  Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance limited had already signed MoU with the state government and would provide health insurance cover under the government sponsored RSBY to the BPL families in the state.

Initially ten districts out of total 17 have been selected for the scheme, while the rest would be included at a later stage, Tuki said.

RSBY is a unique scheme which empowers the card holder to get cashless treatment from all RSBY network hospitals across India. The scheme covers hospitalization expenses of a BPL family of five members for up to thirty thousand rupees.

The company has empanelled 9 hospitals in the state including Papumpare, East Siang, West Siang, Lower Subansiri, West Kameng, East Kameng, Changlang, Lohit and Tirap.

The beneficiaries of RSBY can choose to go to any network hospitals in any districts in India and the benefits can be availed by producing the smartcard at the hospital. Approximately forty thousand BPL families are expected to get benefitted by the scheme in the state.

First Passenger Train service to ‘chug chug’ into Arunachal Pradesh

A passenger train would roll down from Tezpur to Naharlagun through the newly built Harmuti-Naharlagun railway line to put landlocked Arunachal Pradesh on the railway map of India, informed Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

The ambitious railway line project estimated to cost Rs 156 crore (re-estimated at Rs 371.33 crore by the Railway Board on July 7, 2009), missed its target of December 2011 repeatedly.  Sarma, who is the project incharge, attributed the inordinate delay due to existence of five high tension power line poles along the tracks, forest clearance at Gumto area obtained only January 8 last.

As state’s power department has now removed the high tension power line, the formal train service began with clearance by Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Sarma said, adding only passenger trains would run, not goods trains.

Railway connectivity would be a gift of government of India for the land-locked people of this Himalayan state, said Chief Minister Nabam Tuki.

The construction of 20-km Harmutty-Itanagar railway line was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 31, 2008 but former Rajya Sabha member Nabam Rebia armed with a memorandum of Arunachal Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ACCI) had pursued then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, who in 2007 Railway Budget had ordered surveys for gauge conversion of Rangia-Murkongselek and Tezpur-Bhalukpong link lines besides updating of the surveys of the Harmutty-Itanagar railway line.

Highlighting the historical and mythological relevance of the state including the famous Parsuram Kund, Malinithan and tallest Shiva Linga of Ziro during a one to one interaction with the then Union MoS for Trade and Commerce Jairam Ramesh at Pasighat on January 15, 2007, an ACCI delegation led by president Techi Lala, general secretary Tarak Nachung and chief advisor B K Ghosh Dostidar had also demanded construction of 161-km Tinsukia-Parsuram Kund rail line to help tourists from all over India to put the holy place in global tourism map.

Harnessing Medical Plant for Tourism

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki has pitched for harnessing of the abundant medicinal and aromatic plants of the state to enhance revenue generation.

"With a forest cover of 82%, we are blessed with approximately 500 species of medicinal and aromatic plants, which, if harnessed properly, can fetch handsome revenues for the state," 

While saying that the indigenous people, especially those living in rural areas, have better knowledge about traditional medicines, Tuki opined that forest officials should conduct extensive research to identify new medicinal and aromatic plants apart from studying already identified species.

The chief minister, while sharing his past experiences at conferences on medicinal and aromatic plants in Hyderabad and in Kathmandu (Nepal), said that Arunachal Pradesh, with its available resources, is capable of becoming a leading exporter of medicinal and aromatic plants in the country.

He urged forest officials to work with renewed energy and do full justice to their assigned role so that wildlife and forest crimes can be completely contained.

He said they should make efforts to come up with innovative proposals for cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants to wean people away from Jhum cultivation. Besides medicinal plants, he laid emphasis on promoting tea and rubber plantation to cover the barren fields created by Jhum cultivation.

It was Nabam Tuki who contemplated new transfer policy for forest dept during his tenure

Those officers who have been discharging their duties with utmost sincerity and dedication shall be given three options of posting place," Chief Minister Nabam Tuki told .

He said officials doing exceptionally well in preservation of the rich flora and fauna would get priority in promotions.

Tuki suggested inclusion of subjects like forest conservation, importance of wildlife and impact of global warming in school syllabus. He asked the department concerned to co-ordinate with the education department to implement the plan at the earliest.

"This will educate our children in their elementary stage and will also generate awareness among their parents over the importance of forest and wildlife," he said.

Announcing that the state has received the highest grant under the 13th Finance Commission by way of 'Green Bonus', the chief minister emphasised on the need to protect the forest so that the state can continue to get higher central allocation in near future.

He also stressed on increasing the state's forest cover from 82 per cent to 90 per cent through rubber and tea plantations wherever applicable.

Exhorting officials to gainfully utilise CAMPA fund meant for afforestation programme, the chief minister said community participation should be made mandatory in such schemes.

"We must start afforestation programmes with economically viable plants so that economic generation could be ensured alongside increasing forest cover," Tuki said.

He also suggested involving community and individuals under the programme so that they could be equally benefited from such afforestation programmes. He asked the department to start the process on phase wise manner by selecting few divisions on an experimental basis.

  

During his tenure, Nabam Tuki laid foundation for rental housing under RAY

Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Nabam Tuki laid the foundation for construction of rental housing under Rajiv Awas Yojana (RAY) at Dokoso near the state zoo here. It will comprise 576 units. This is the first such project in the state to be implemented by the urban development and town planning department.

Tuki also laid the foundation for construction of flats for senior government officers in   Itanagar.

Tuki, who was accompanied by urban development minister Rajesh Tacho, said the project would help solve accommodation problems of the state government employees. The RAY project would provide housing to those living below the poverty line on nominal rents. The other project would solve the accommodation problem of 90 senior government officers.

The Rs 4431.2 lakh RAY project includes construction of internal road, community centre, livelihood centre, proper drainage system and boundary wall with 10 per cent funding from the state government. A 24-month deadline is set for its completion, UD director Tedir informed the CM.