Economics of North-Eastern Region of India

The North-Eastern Region (NER) of India comprises seven states namely, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura. Informally, Sikkim also may be included in this region, though many may not agree to that. The characteristic features of this region are fivefold: (1) a greater part of each of these states has a hilly terrain, in the Himalayan region, (2) the majority of pupulation in these states is tribal, (3) the economy is mostly agricultural, with substantial Jhum (shifting and slash and burn) cultivation, (4) these states are at the frontier of the Indian territory, with a lot of foreign interaction in trade, economic, cultural and political matters, and lastly, (5) these states are considered as special cases for development efforts made by the nation. It is our considered opinion that the economic development of these states needs special dealing and understanding the economy of these states needs institutional approach wherin the artificial dividing lines drawn by economics, politics, anthropology, psychology, sociology, etc are not only unsuitable, but detrimental too.