Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
Arunachal has witnessed many major milestones being accomplished in the field of infrastructure, education, health and governance during the last few months and years.
Major achievements in the field of infrastructure include inauguration of India’s longest bridge, the 9.15 km Sadiya bridge connecting Dibrugarh/Tinsukia to Roing/Tezu, the 6.5 km bridge connecting Roing and Dambuk, the longest road-cum-rail bridge over the Brahmaputra connecting many districts of Arunachal with Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, etc. Other milestones include inauguration of the advanced landing grounds in Pasighat, Ziro, Aalo, Mechukha, Tuting, Walong and Vijaynagar, progress in the Trans-Arunachal Highway project, selection and launch of the Pasighat and Itanagar smart cities, re-commencement of civilian flights from Pasighat, etc.
In the education sector, the major milestone is the commencement of the first medical college of the state, the TRIHMS, from this academic session. The inauguration of the much awaited medical college will allow specialist medical care in our remote state and open up vacancies for more Arunachalee students to become doctors.
The other major achievement is the commencement of the first Sainik School of Arunachal Pradesh at Niglok, near Pasighat, from this academic session. The much awaited Sainik School will allow Arunachalee students to get quality education under discipline, and military training. It will allow many Arunachalee students to become military pilots and army and naval officers.
Milestones in the health sector include start of the TRIHMS’ academic session, launch of the health insurance schemes Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) and Chief Minister’s Arunachal Arogya Yojana (CMAAY). A combination of these two schemes provides Arunachalees cashless medical treatment at empanelled hospitals up to Rs 5 lakhs per family.
Achievements in governance include citizen centric schemes like Sarkar Aapke Dwar, Beti Bachao Beti Padao, Mudra loan/PMEGP schemes, Mission Indradhanush, Saubhagya, Swacchh Bharat, etc.
A few more critical milestones are planned to be launched in the next few months/years. These include the commissioning of the 110 mw Pare and 600 mw Kameng hydropower projects.
The 2000 mw Subansiri hydropower project is also almost complete. If the governments of Arunachal and Assam resolve a few pending issues, this dam will make the entire Northeast self-sufficient in power generation and power availability. After long delays, Itanagar’s airport is also being launched soon.
With the present state government and central government pushing forward the development agenda, it is likely that these pending critical milestones will be accomplished at an early date. Similar push is required in the industries and tourism sectors. These critical infrastructure and tourism milestones will trigger economic development in the state, give a fillip to tourism, and thus generate gainful employment for the youths of the state. At this rate, Arunachalee citizens can proudly say, “Arunachal Rising.”(The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)
