Just Transition, (Re)vision 2020—The Story Hitherto

The cluster of the eight North-Eastern states, connected to the rest of India by only a narrow strip of land, regressed to a state of lost glory with the economy struggling to be at par with the other Indian states since independence. Constituting of 7.98% of the country’s total geographical area, the region hosts 3.77% of its population. The North-East India despite being rich in resources, natural and human suffers from stunted development due to failure of proper implementation of programmes and poor governance. The region, characterized by diverse physiography and population, faces social, economic and political challenges. The North-Eastern Region Vision 2020North Eastern Region Vision 2020 Document was designed by the Ministry of Development for the North-East Region and the North-Eastern Council and unveiled by the Government of India in 2008 to push the North-Eastern states towards prosperity and growth by identifying intervention areas and mechanisms for the development of the region. Development being the necessity should be sustainable. This chapter traces the transformations underwent in the region's social, structural, demographic and economic climate since the inception of the Vision Document through an assessment of the different components of the strategy proposed in the document. However, 2020 is already gone, and the ambition to achieve the challenges in just over a decade was perhaps overzealous. Using the notion of Just TransitionJust Transition, we call for a (re)vision of the vision’s document with an achievable set target of 2070, in line with PM Modi’s pledge of attaining carbon neutrality by 2070 in the COP26 summit in Glasgow so that the region transpires as avant-garde in Act East PolicyAct East Policy. Alongside, this chapter also attempts to untangle the complexities and analyse the different indices and the coherence of development in the region with the SDGs. Arguably, achieving growth parity through sustainable development is crucial for North-East India, and the chapter focuses on evaluating the same.