VII. NEW DELHI SUMMIT ON RAIL CONNECTIVITY – 19 JUNE, 2007

S.No
Actionable Points
Action Taken
TELECOMMUNICATION SECTOR
1.
Minister DoNER to take up the matter of restriction on mobile telephone within 0-500 metres of the international border with the Ministries of Home and Defence in the light of the peculiar situation of the Region.

Relaxation on restrictions on mobile telephone considered by the Committee of Secretaries.

2.
Regarding stringent requirements for verification of customers, the suggestion to use the electoral photo identity card as proof of identity may be examined by the Department of Telecommunication in consultation with the MHA. Other similar ideas may also be explored to enable the people of the North-East to have hassle free and quick connection.
Use of electoral photo identity card as proof of identity has already been introduced by BSNL.
3.
BSNL will take steps to introduce online billing facility in the Region and quick incorporation of payments made to overcome multiple billing and settlement disputes. Concepts of easy-billing centres being operated in many cities need to be introduced in the NE States as well.
Action has been initiated to operationalise  easy-billing centres in NE States.
4.
To address the lack of adequate skilled manpower in the NER for meeting the requirement of telecom sector, the North Eastern Council in consultation with BSNL and other service providers will consider setting up of a Regional Institute for Training of Telecom Personnel, preferably at Dimapur. Dr. (Mrs.) I.K. Barthakur will coordinate.
  
5.
The Department of Road Transport and Highways as well as the State Governments should examine and give effect to the proposal for providing service ducts in all new roads and existing roads where widening work is undertaken to facilitate and economize the laying up and maintenance of cables and to minimize disruption.

BSNL has stated that all the roads in NE States should provide service ducts for laying of cables. It was decided that Deptt. of Telecom (DoT) should take up the matter with National Highway Authority of India and Department of Road Transport and Highways (DoRTH) and also with Indian Road Congress for revision of specifications for roads including the provision for service ducts. This issue need to be taken up by DONER at the highest level with DORTH, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). 

For providing such service ducts, levying of any service charges is also acceptable to DoT.
6
The large number of check posts and long procedures lead to avoidable delays and increase the cost of transportation. The States should streamline the system which should be made uniform for the whole Region.
 Action for the States.
7.
The states should have a single window, time bound and efficient system for according clearances for laying of cables. Restoration charges should be rationalized so as to not become deterrent.
Ministry of DoNER will take up with State Governments any specific problem about cable laying. BSNL stated there are problems in Shillong route for Aizawl. BSNL is of the view that restoration charges levied by States are extremely high in North East.
8.
The pros and cons of underground cable network vis-à-vis other alternatives like  PGCIL Cable, submarine cable and a cable through Brahmaputra should be clearly studied by the BSNL in view of the peculiar conditions in the Region. Ministry of DoNER should ask the PGCIL to include in their proposed study of the transmission needs of the Region, the utility of the network from the point of view of providing alternate connectivity on their cables.

DONER has asked PGCIL to incorporate in their proposed study of the transmission needs of the Region, the utility of the network from the point of view of providing alternate connectivity on their cables.

BSNL is using PGCIL cable for connectivity to the State capitals. However for providing bandwidth to other parts of the States, they will be laying their own OF cables. It is also proposing to lay a cable across the river Brahmaputra.
9.
State Electricity Boards should give priority to ensure regular, uninterrupted and quality power for running the telecom and IT network.
 Action for States.
10.
DoNER should constitute a Committee under the Chairmanship of. Shri P.P.Shrivastav, Member, NEC, for better coordination and synergy among various stakeholders with a view to achieve optimum results at accelerated pace by identifying problems, integrating networks and resolution of conflicts.

The Committee is continuing with its deliberations. Department of Telecommunications has taken the following steps for strengthening the telecommunications links in the region:

Manipur

Optical Link to Tamu – Tamu (Myanmar) is border town with Manipur State. There is plan to connect Moreh to Tamu on OF Cable. The route length from border to Moreh is 3.6 kms. BSNL has agreed to bear cost of this portion of link and M/s TCIL has been requested to implement the same. The work of the same is yet ot be commenced. TCIL is also implementing the work of laying OFC from Tamu to Mandalay (Myanmar). As per TCIL, the link between Moreh and Tamu is expected by December 2007 and Tamu to Mandalay by March 2008.

Tripura

BSNL has proposed Agartala-Brahmanbaria (Bangladesh), 34 mb, 7 GHz link to provide direct connectivity from Agartala to Bangladesh. BSNL has also decided to donate equipment for this route. But , proper response from Bangladesh is not coming forward. The case has been taken up with IR Cell of DoT for taking up case with Bangladesh Telegraph and Telecom Board (BTTB). Presently, Mazdia (West Bengal) – Chuadanga (Bangladesh) 6 GHz Microwave link (analogue) is working between India and\ Bangladesh. T his is 7 year old issue – some lateral thinking to be done to persuade Bangladesh to take up the offer. MEA can be asked.

Sikkim

Connectivity to Sikkim – For providing connectivity to Sikkim, links have been established from Siliguri and Darjeeling to Gangtok. All other District Headquarters have been connected on Microwave and Aerial of Cable. Due to hilly terrain conditions, it is difficult to lay underground OF Cable. There are 47 exchanges in Sikkim and all are connected either by OFC (Aerial/ underground) or Microwave. The present connectivity of DHQs and SDCCs of Sikkim is depicted in Annexure.

Future Plan – Alternate OF Cable route has been planned from Darjeeling to Gangtok (160 kms), which is expected to be completed during 08.09. On commissioning of this route, Gangtok will be connected on ring network and Namchi, Geyzing and Nayabazar will be connected on underground OFC and Namchi (DHQ), Geyzing (DHQ) and Nayabazar (SDCC) on UG OF cable.  To provide connectivity to other exchanges/ BTSs, 140 kms of AOF has also been planned.
11.
The States should facilitate acquisition of land for setting up of telecom infrastructure and also provide security for the officials wherever required.
 Action for States.
IT SECTOR
12.
The North-East States should endeavour to develop themselves into preferred IT destinations by creating an enabling environment with appropriate policy intervention and PPP models.

Assam has adopted an IT Policy. It is also in the process of acquiring 100 acres of land for developing an IT Park. 
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is setting up a Development Centre on IT in Guwahati. TCS chief has visited Guwahati and land identified for the Centre.
In Tripura, a Software Technology Park is proposed to be established at Agartala. MOU to be signed with Software Technologies Parks of India (STPI).

In Aizawl, location for opening an IT park has been identified. These are post summit developments and very welcome.
13.
The IT industry should not be misled by the false portrayal of the North-East as a Region beset with terrorism and insurgency. The fact is that large swathes of the Region have impeccable law and order situation. Ministry of DoNER and the NE States should take appropriate measures to dispel such a notion from the minds of potential investors.
Ministry of DoNER has funded advertisements in the media (audio and visual) for encouraging tourists to visit the North East. The LTC holders meet on 16th January 2008 also highlighted the security aspect of the Region.
14. Quality infrastructure should be created to position the Region as an attractive and viable destination for the IT industry.

 NIC has developed its Centres in the State capitals, districts and blocks. Video conferencing facility is also provided in all the 8 States and 83 districts of NE Region.

Infrastructure is upgraded from time to time based on requirement of projects being implemented.
15.
The states should give highest importance to use IT to lift the quality of life of their people, particularly in the rural areas.
 Action for States.
16.
The States should take appropriate measures for promotion of local entrepreneurship in IT. A scholarship based system of identifying; nurturing and promoting IT talent should be introduced.
States are taking action in this regard. The NAC test of NASSCOM has generated good response. 13563 youth have registered for the NAC in the North East.  It was agreed that the next step should be to train NE youth for taking the NAC test to improve their chances.
17.
The North-East Region should position itself to become the back office for the Southeast Asian and Far East Asian countries.
  
18. The IT industry is likely to have much lower attrition rate in the Region as the people are generally attached to their heritage. The States and the NASSCOM may highlight this crucial aspect which is becoming a major concern of the industry.

 
19.
The state Governments are unable to find resources for running the Community Information Centres (CICs) and are requesting for the extension of status-quo for a few more years. Further, questions were raised regarding the viability of converting the CICs into Community Service Centres (CSCs) at many places. The Department of Information Technology should take into account the concerns of the states before taking a final decision.
 It was informed by representatives of NIC that CICs will continue till March 2009, thereafter CSCs will start functioning. 7 States, except Tripura have agreed that CICs be converted into CSCs. In the interim period, the work of integration of the CICs into CSCs will have to be undertaken. However, it is not clear whether there are enough applications available that will render a young entrepreneur’s investment viable in the CSCs. This concern has to be addressed by the Ministry of IT and the State Governments.  A Committee was desired to be set up under the Chairmanship of Shri P.P. Shrivastav, Member, NEC to discuss issues of the North Eastern States vis-à-vis NIC.  The committee can also consider the interlinking of networks through ISRO and NER.
20.
The Department of Electronics Accreditation to Computer Courses (DOEACC), an autonomous society of the Department of Information Technology, has centres at Aizawl, Imphal, Tezpur (with extension centres at Guwahati and Kohima). The centres should be established in all the States of the Region.
Tripura has allotted land to DOEACC for establishment of a campus for its centre.  The State Government will also provide rented accommodation so that the trainings can begin in 2008.
21.
The Government should work towards a One India Plan for Bandwidth so that the North-East States do not suffer from this handicap.
 This has already been done
22.
The IT and Higher Education Departments in the NE States should extend requisite support to NASSCOM for the NASSCOM Assessment of Competence in IT Skills. They should remain fully involved with the whole process since it has long term implications for employment, training and modification of curriculum. NEC and North Eastern Regional Educational Council should sensitize the Vice-chancellors of Universities and College Principals for sensitizing the eligible students for taking NAC.
 Recognizing the potential of the Region, the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with M/s National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) for administering the Assessment of Competence Test for 20,000 undergraduate youth of the Region. This will be a certification and benchmarking programme for employment in the IT-industry. 5000 students have so far been covered. Rs. 3.5 crore has been sanctioned for this programme. Besides this, the Ministry of DoNER is also providing funds to the unemployed youth of N.E. States in IT skills through the Department of Electronics Accreditation to Computer Courses (DOEACC) and other Government institutions.   The North Eastern Council, in the current financial year, has allocated Rs. 7.50 crore for IT and IT-related services in its budget. It has already released approximately Rs. 3.10 crore till date.
23.

Many of the NE States do not provide IT enabled citizen centric services at present. National Informatics Centre has to upgrade existing technical support to the North-East States for e-Governance. The States should provide content as well as update it regularly.

Infrastructure for e-governance in all the NE States has already been upgraded by NIC. All the capitals now have LAN facility. Rs 25.00 lakhs has been provided for content up-gradation for their websites. It is implementing the mission mode projects in land record, transport, treasury (in Maharashtra pattern). More services need to be computerized. NIC has informed that the States have to take initiative to prioritize citizen centric e-governance service and update contents in their website.
24.
The States should undertake Capacity Building programmes for employees at all levels
Training centres have been set up for Government employees. Their utilization by States is low.
25.
For optimum utilization of the CICs (CSCs afterwards), awareness campaigns should be organized in remote and interior areas.
CICs are doing awareness campaign presently in block and district headquarters. They were advised to take the help of the State Governments to conduct awareness in the remote area as well
26.
DIT should expeditiously resolve the issue of State Wide Area Network with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and the network should be in place for all the NE states by 31.03.08.
No proposal has been received from the State of Arunachal Pradesh.
1