TR-FINANCE COMMISSION

The 15th Finance Commission

(FC) has endorsed the view of 'North East Vision 2020'

document that says the region needs more funds to catch up

with the rest of the country, the panel's chairman N K Singh

said Thursday.

A 15-member team of the commission, headed by Singh,

on Thursday received a memorandum from the state government

and held a meeting with the council of ministers headed by

Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.

"We endorse the view recorded in the document of the

North East Region Vision 2020 that the region needs ample

funds to catch up with the rest of the country. We will

consider the view while recommending funds," Singh said.

He said that the commission shares the vision of

chief minister and governor of Tripura to make it a model

state.

The FC team had arrived yesterday and held

deliberations with different stakeholders.

"The new leadership of Tripura is committed to make it

a fair contributor in development of the nation. Tripuras

growth trajectory is sound, he said.

A statement from the state government said that it has

made a strong pitch for increased devolution to set up better

infrastructure, especially in health, IT, power, education,

tourism, disaster mitigation and other sectors.

The government has laid importance on four points

including access to Chittagong port in neighbouring Bangladesh

to make Tripura a maritime hub for NE India, improve road

connectivity to boost tourism, capitalize on Tripuras

comparative factor advantages in skilled manpower and

agro-related industries and granting a host of specific

projects aimed to fulfil aspirations of the states tribal

communities.

However, when asked about plans of revising the tax

base for erstwhile special category states in NE India, Singh

said that he feels all northeastern states will have to become

more reliant on their own resources in future.

Singh said that the state government during the last

ten months has taken very important initiatives for

development and laid importance in several important areas

concerning the economy of Tripura.

"Finance Commission fully shares the vision of the

government and chief minister to make Tripura a model state at

the end of the government's tenure. I think they have an HRD

plan to improve the overall HRD sector in the state. The chief

minister also said the health sector in Tripura has a huge

opportunity not only in health services here but to set up

health institutes where a lot of people from Bangladesh can

receive benefits," he said.

Singh said he finds it important to improve Land and

air connectivity which is necessary to give further boost to

tourism.

Singh also said the commission had a very detailed

discussion yesterday with three tier panchayats and district

parishads.

Singh said the commission received a memorandum from

Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), who

explained their plans and informed about different projects.

The TTAADC constitutes two thirds of the state's

territory and is home to the tribals, who constitute a third

of the states population.

Singh said the commission would submit a report to the

government at the end of this year.