Revisiting North East India In The Era Of Globalisation

Contributed papers presented at a national seminar organized by North East India Council of Social Science Research in Shillong, India.

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Notes on contributors -- Preface -- Abbreviations -- Introduction: locating northeast India in a globalising India -- 1 Globalisation and the Indian Himalayan states: mitigating or accentuating marginalisation? -- 2 Economically integrating northeast India with Southeast Asia -- 3 Economic performance of the north-eastern region in the post-liberalisation period -- 4 Employment challenges in the north-eastern region of India: post-reform trends and dimensions -- 5 Poverty and nutrition in the north-eastern region of India -- 6 Inclusive development, citizenship and globalisation: the case of Arunachal Pradesh -- 7 Emerging issues of human development in northeast India -- 8 Educational disparities in northeast India -- 9 Land laws, development and globalisation in northeast India -- 10 Agricultural credit in Assam: a review of recent trends -- 11 Agrarian transformation in mountain economies: field insights from Arunachal Pradesh -- 12 Understanding the sluggish industrialisation process in northeast India: how do the industrial policies help? -- 13 Performance and potential of the unorganised manufacturing sector: a brief study of the north-eastern states -- 14 Microfinance in the north-eastern region: growth and challenges -- 15 Fiscal issues for the north-eastern region -- 16 Governance and human security issues in northeast India -- 17 India's entry into the ASEAN: some implications for the northeast -- Index

Globalization has affected a change across the regions of the world and India is no exception. The national economy has become far more integrated with the global economy now. However, there are large parts of the underdeveloped regions that suffer from endemic underdevelopment. The north-eastern region is one such region. The relevance of Globalisation in the context of the North-Eastern Region of India has additional implications in terms of social and political integration. The most important characteristic of the north-eastern region is that all the constituent units (states) are relatively closed ethnic groups. All the states in the region share porous international border. Consequently, both product and factor markets in these states have some international dimension. Given the socioeconomic and geopolitical dimensions in the region, the prevailing pattern of development in these states has also culminated in the form of social unrest and degradation of economic values. This clearly implies that the development policies and programmes have fallen short of meeting the social and economic aspirations of the indigenous population in the region. In this context, the question that arises is how the forces of Globalization and economic growth could be combined together to address the implicit and most relevant questions associated with migration, unemployment and development of trading activities in the perspective of North-Eastern Region of India.

Contributed articles chiefly with reference to rural development in Northeastern India; includes articles on cultural history of the region.

From the days of election campaign for 2014 Lok Sabha, Northeast India occupied a special attention to Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat. After taking oath as India’s Prime Minister, how his visionary ideas helped Northeast to become a ‘Development’ zone from a ‘Conflict’ zone, is the main crux of this Book. This book tries to test the hypothesis that “state versus community conflict in Northeast India can be managed through integrated thrust over ‘Development’ and ‘Security’ policies”. The idea of connections between security and development thinking is not a new phenomenon, but intermingling both as a nexus and using this nexus for conflict management is a post-Cold War phenomenon. There are already some studies done on countries like Sudan, Sweden, Liberia, Afghanistan etc. – to test development-security nexus as a conflict management tool. But no study has yet done on India, where, in recent times, we see growing emphasis on this approach. In the post-Cold War era, we can underline a change in the mode of conflict management in India’s North-eastern part. While, many theorists and policy-makers exemplify federal solution of violent ethnic identity demands as an ideal tool, both Central and State policies are relying more and more on development-security nexus. From the day of getting office as Premier, Narendra Modi has clearly shown his inclination towards this nexus for bringing peace and stability in Northeast. In different speeches and policy formulations, he seems stubborn towards insurgent groups’ federal demands, and emphasizing and implementing an integrated development plan for North-Eastern Region alongwith the rest of India. His well-acclaimed policies like ‘Act East’, and ‘Neighbourhood First’ also helping in both development and securitisation of Northeast. In this Book, the propositions of this Nexus will be empirically tested in five years of NDA regime (2014-19). Broadly, this Book will delve in the questions like – What do we mean by ‘Development- Security Nexus’?; How the ‘Development - Security Nexus’ is differently imbued with meaning and ultimately employed in India?; What are the ‘new’ policies of Indian Government during Modi-led NDA Government (2014 – 2019)?; What are the development policies and initiatives of NDA Government (2014 – 2019) in development arena of India’s Northeast?; What are the security measures of NDA Government (2014 –2019) in NER?; How far Development-Security Nexus is successful in mitigating or managing conflict in India’s North-eastern part? This Study is qualitative research, in which content analysis technique is applied to study variety of data sources. In this Study, the Governmental documents from different ministries - like Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, Ministry of Defence etc. - was interpreted to test the hypothesis. Some reliable non- Governmental sources - like data of Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy Pvt. Ltd., Environmental Systems Research Institute and South Asia Terrorism Portal etc. - was also examined for the information and their analysis. As the topic is very much contemporary and we have paucity of secondary sources, print media and multimedia sources were also considered from reliable sources. I hope, this Book will be a benchmark for the society as well as policy making bodies as a comprehensive comparative database of the tested hypothesis that state versus community conflict in Northeast India can be managed through integrated thrust over Development and Security policies.

This book sketches a road map of privatisation, accumulation and dispossession of communal land in the tribal areas of North East India from pre-colonial times to the neo-liberal era. Spread over five chapters, this study unfolds the privatisation of communal land in the backdrop of a larger theoretical and historical canvas. It deals with the different institutional modes of privatisation, accumulation and dispossession of communal land, the changes in land use and cropping patterns, the changes in land relations and the land-based identity of the tribal community as a result. The conclusive chapter makes a broader reflection of the grand narrative of privatisation, accumulation and dispossession of communal land in North East India. This title is co-published with Aakar Books. Print edition not for sale in South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Bhutan)