When Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed power in 2014, he gave a clarion call for the speedy development of the North Eastern Region. In Modi’s perception the North Eastern Region which shares a mere 4% of its borders with the rest of India and 96% with other countries is best suited to look towards South East Asia and Bangladesh for its economic growth. Hence the static Look East Policy of the Congress regime was renamed the Act East Policy by Modi. But this change in nomenclature has hardly added any traction to the Policy. Within the region, communication is extremely poor and hazardous. The national highway connecting Nagaland to Manipur is subjected to frequent mud slides, landslides and hill slides making the journey a horrendous experience. And yet this is the only way for goods to be transported to Manipur from the rest of the country.
The Act East Policy lacks pragmatism. At best it is an academic exercise. Ironically, no one has critiqued this Policy because most academicians stand to gain from the discussions around it. To succeed, any policy has to involve people who have to know what’s in it for them. The North Eastern States have to first identify their strengths and their niche products to export to the rest of the world through South East Asia and Bangladesh. In this respect, the entrepreneurs of Nagaland seem to have moved ahead of the other states although they are not invested in the Act East Policy. Their unique crafts and furniture and their weaves which are exclusively designed have reached the world markets. None of the other states have managed to brand their products. Meghalaya’s turmeric with its curcumin content of 7.94% – the highest in the world – is a potential anti-carcinogenic and anti-inflammatory agent. But so far it has not fetched the desired price.
Border trade is an essential element of the Act East Policy. Till date we have more informal than formal trade across the borders with Myanmar, China and Bangladesh. Our Land Custom Stations (LCS) are yet to reach a scale where states can earn adequate revenues from border trade. Now the Modi Government is on its last leg but the Act East Policy is yet to receive the traction it should. The Policy now needs to be reconfigured looking at the strengths and weaknesses of each state and greater public participation is a must.