Context
- 2026 marks the silver jubilee of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER), established by PM Vajpayee to address apathy and ignorance toward Northeast India.
- The ministry’s budget allocation has seen a 152% increase, i.e. from ₹2,332 crore in 2014-15 to ₹5,892 crore in 2023-24.
- Despite budgetary growth, the ministry has at times been a victim of government apathy, with the broader challenge of national integration remaining unresolved.
Core Problem: Identity, Not Just Development
- Development of any region is linked to recognising the identity of its people and this is true not just for the Northeast but all border areas.
- People from border areas, including the Northeast, continue to face ignorance and insensitivity from mainstream India.
- Recent incidents such as racial abuse and threats against Arunachali women in Delhi are stark reminders of this failure of national responsibility.
Associated Challenges
- Ignorance and insensitivity toward people from border areas persist despite decades of development spending.
- Racial discrimination against people from the Northeast in cities represents a failure of the “one people” ideal.
- For border areas like Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman-Nicobar, and Lakshadweep, there is no comprehensive policy ensuring their emotional integration into the national mainstream.
- The “one people” demand requires shared identity and shared ethos, something that budget allocations alone cannot build.
- IAS and IPS officers from non-border states often lack experiential understanding of border regions, limiting effective governance.
Way Forward
- Educational Reforms
- Revise school textbooks to include lessons on border areas and directives should ensure that students in Classes V to X have at least one lesson pertaining to the Northeast covering History, Geography, Social Studies, English, and regional language.
- Establish university departments of border area studies on the lines of Latin American Studies, African Studies, and Eurasian Studies departments.
- Make border area studies a mandatory subject for students appearing for competitive examinations including the UPSC.
- Mandatory Service in Border Regions
- Spending at least two years in border areas should be made mandatory for all IAS and IPS officers from other states.
- This will provide experiential learning and build genuine understanding of border regions and their people.
- Sister-School Linkages
- One school from every district in non-border areas should enter into a sister-institution relationship with a school from a border district.
- The two schools should then collaborate on a variety of projects, building grassroots understanding among the next generation.
- Celebrating Border Area Heroes
- Border areas have produced many freedom fighters, litterateurs, artists, and thinkers i.e. from Lachit Borphukan to Bhupen Hazarika, from Moji Riba and Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi of Assam to Rani Gaidinliu of Nagaland.
- Celebrating anniversaries of such heroes nationally would help weave a common national ethos and build a sense of shared identity.
- Comprehensive Policy for Emotional Integration
- A comprehensive policy and plan is needed specifically to ensure the emotional integration of border area people into the national mainstream.
- Such efforts must be oriented toward the next generation to build lasting understanding and belonging.
