Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, participated in a discussion on the Union Budget 2024 with regional business leaders, youth, and women. The focus was on how the budget will help realise the vision of a developed India, particularly benefiting the Northeast’s economic, industrial, and agricultural sectors by empowering youth, women, and tribal communities.
Minister Sonowal highlighted the budget’s substantial increase in outlay for tribal communities, stating, “The Union Budget 2024 sets the roadmap for India towards becoming Viksit Bharat. Our dynamic Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi ji, has identified our beautiful northeast as the ‘Astalakshmi’ and the new engine of India’s growth. Under Modi ji, the provision in this budget for the empowerment and enablement of tribal communities has increased nearly 200% with an allocation of ₹13,000 crores for their welfare.”
He also announced a new scheme aimed at tribal communities, saying, “Another landmark scheme for serving social justice for the tribal communities, the Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram, was announced in this budget which will aim at improving the socio-economic condition of tribal communities. This will benefit directly 5 crore tribal population in 63,000 villages.”
Discussing agriculture, Sonowal noted, “Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji, we are working towards unlocking the tremendous potential of the Northeast as the hub of Natural Farming and Horticulture as well as enabling our young talent to become a world-class skilled workforce. The release of 109 high-yielding and climate-resilient varieties of 32 field and horticulture crops offers an opportunity for Meghalaya to multiply income generation and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.”
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On job creation and industrial growth, he added, “The Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), a unique intervention by the Modi Government, offers ₹15,000 in three instalments to first-time employees and it will be integrated with the Meghalaya Industrial & Investment Promotion Policy. This will boost industrial development and job creation in the state.”
Infrastructure development was another key area, with Sonowal stating, “The budget also made significant financial injections to boost infrastructure via Phase IV of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana to provide all-weather connectivity to remote areas including the Northeast. The PMGSY has already connected 3,482 km of roads across Meghalaya, with a total cost of ₹2310.76 crores since 2014. The budget has made a provision of ₹2.66 lakh crores for rural development including rural infrastructure for the Northeast region. Another ₹19,338 crores in the Union Budget 2024 for improvement in Northeast’s road and highway connectivity, which will highly enhance the tourist infrastructure in the region, including Meghalaya.”
The meeting was also attended by Alexander Hek, the Minister of Animal Husbandry, Government of Meghalaya.
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