How NRAs can be of help to Assam

Over the past few years a lot has been written and discussed on this issue of 'How NRAs can be of help to Assam".

Today, there are many Assamese people are in almost every state in India, and in almost every country of the world. Most of them are successful professionals. The rest are students, or own businesses.  Living far away from home, many of these Assamese have set up associations. For many years, the main activities for these associations have been to celebrate Bihu and get-togethers or other annual meets. Now, in addition to these, these associations are trying to focus on helping or solving problems in Assam. There have been small successes, and then there have also been some frustrations. The frustrations mainly stem from several factors. Let us touch on these briefly:

Most NRAs are professionals, whether they are in Mumbai or in the West. As such, their capacity to invest time and money is limited.

Compared to other ethnic groups, Assamese NRAs are fewer in numbers. They are not able to capitalize on the benefits that larger groups, like Gujaratis have.

NRAs are also concerned about how effectively the funds they collect for a particular project are put to use, and also not misused. Numerous times, NRAs might fund a small project, but do not receive any feedback.

Sometimes NRAs also feel that there is a lack of interest from people back home to help in the solutions.

Then there are some non-NRAs who feel that Assam's problems cannot be solved by remote control.

A different approach may be called from now on. For the successful completion of any project, there are a number of things we would need to recognize. Here are some thoughts.

Let us first identify some of the problems that Assam faces today. All of these are important, and are in no particular order. In fact, the list also contains some of the classic cause and effect problems. For example, if corruption were to be eliminated, then many of the other problems would probably not exist.

(a) Annual Floods.
(b) Rampant corruption.
(c) Poor infrastructure (includes road conditions, telephone connections, transportation, garbage collection, and erratic electric supply).
(d) High rates of unemployment and population growth.
(e) Health care facilities and cleanliness issues.
(f) Insurgency & immigration problems.
(g) Agricultural and farming needs. These include cultivation, irrigation, produce storage, agricultural prices etc.

Apparently, as one can well visualize it would be a Herculean task to solve each and every one of these. But NRAs, with the help and guidance of people back home, can make sizeable dents.

Let us look at some possible solutions:

Annual floods: This is one of the major problems that we seemingly have little control. There are two parts to floods.

(a) Minimizing the havoc and (b) Helping those affected after floods.

All throughout Assam's history, we have almost always concentrated on the latter.  Why? There are human lives and properties at stake; it is easier, and politically expedient. Only in recent years has some effort been taken to minimize the effects of flooding.

To minimize the effects of flooding, NRAs can help by:

(a) Engineering a massive campaign to appraise the appropriate departments and agencies in Assam, New Delhi, and also some world bodies.

The thrust of this campaign would be to have these agencies come up with some permanent solutions to minimizing flood damages. This kind of campaign requires long term commitments from NRAs and people in Assam and a lot of political will. It also requires some of the expertise that NRAs have (engineers & architects), corresponding with various agencies, and at the same time seeking funds for the projects that may ensue.

A lot work is already being done by international agencies like UNDP and USAID in Assam. For example, in Dhemaji, UNDP has been helping with the flood situation and also providing valuable statistical data. See the link http://www.dhemaji.com/

I have also provided another link that has examples of community efforts to control floods. See link below:
http://www.responsiblefloodcontrol.org/responsible-flood-control-who-we-...

A few more relevant and interesting links are listed below.

http://www.indiacore.com/ic-conf/10-feb2004-cpu-water-india/topics.html
http://www.ipc-ateneo.org.ph/social_envtl_safeguards/discussion.php?aid=13
http://www.inweb.gr/documents/IFNet(INBO).pdf

Assam will always have floods. But we can always find ways to minimize the effects of the devastation. I would suggest NRAs and others concentrate on long-term solutions to minimize flood damages.

Helping the affected people in post flood situations is always required and NRAs can help setup a super fund earmarked just for such emergencies, instead of going on a collection spree at the last minute. Such a super-fund must also entail details about well-thought out delivery systems, making sure there are no leakages or mal-distribution of funds or essential materials collected for flood victims.

Corruption:

NRAs can also help set-up public awareness and empowerment anti-corruption units or watchdogs throughout the state. What will these units do?

These units would be active in exposing corruption in State Government and public institutions. They would be active in taking out media ads as how common people can call in or write about erring officials or corrupt systems.

It should not stop there, officials responsible for departments that are corrupt must be asked to explain what steps they intend to undertake to make the situation better.

The units would then have to see if the situation has become better or solved. Inept departments or agencies must be brought under the microscope, until they become efficient.

NRAs can fund these units to a large extent. The people in Assam manning these units may have to volunteer their services. NRAs can help fund ads for public awareness campaigns against corruptions. NRAs can also help in writing to newspapers in Assam or even nationally to give the appropriate exposure and focus.

Each instance of corrupt practice should be treated as a business project, and that is possibly one of the best ways to solve or eliminate corruption one at a time. The largest and biggest corruption problems have to be tackled first. Then we can go down the list.

Some good targets to start with are: Flood Control Department, PWD, Director of Public Instruction, Department of Transportation, State and City contracts awards, and ministers. If NRAs are committed, we can make a difference.  There are good people in all the above, but they are in a minority.

Infrastructure:

NRAs can help with some of the big problems plaguing the state. BSNL (the Central Telecommunication Unit) is responsible in providing good and steady services.  Similar problems exist with the upkeep, repairs, and building of new roads. Train and air links from major cities to the rest of India have improved over the years. But there is always room for improvement.

NRAs can help by pressuring agencies like BSNL to improve services and increase capacity. Writing to the Delhi, and the local Assam offices of such departments, and also publicizing gross ineptitudes may accomplish this.

The ASEB it seems has become totally independent. Electricity is the lifeline of a state's development. When erratic or insufficient, tremendous losses result. This is one major area that NRAs must concentrate. The first aspect in dealing with this is getting rid of the inefficiencies and corruption. Long-term needs should deal with finding ways to increase mega watts. Electricity production in Assam and NE is among the lowest in the country. Something as important as this must be given a high priority and focus.

NRAs can help by sponsoring a study group that will identify, investigate, and provide for solutions to help electric production and maintenance. It should not just stop at that, we can also help in making the Center and the State aware of problems and solutions, and bring all this to public attention.

Unemployment:

Unemployment is a difficult problem to solve. There are many reasons for it, but the problem need not be acute. The major factors affecting employment are:

High birth rates, illegal immigration, lack of major industries, and lack of economic stimulus for the start & growth of small businesses.

High birth rates and illegal immigration are problems that NRAs can do little to elevate, other than bring attention to the problem in media, and the State and Central Governments.

Larger industries are not being setup in Assam because of a bad business climate. Industrialists from Mumbai would be eager set up industries if (a) it's profitable and (b) their investments are safe.

The former is not such a big problem, as sufficient demand factors do exist for most products. But the latter is a bigger problem.

How do we convince these large industrialists of setting up businesses in Assam?

There are several things that can be attempted. The State and City governments must setup a Directorate or a portfolio just to deal with this issue.

The state can offer incentives like tax abatements, land, regular, uninterrupted power supply, etc. Such incentives ought to be offered, only, if these industries employ a certain percentage of local people, and are making long-term commitments to the state.

Investment risks associated with insurgency, bandhs, and strikes, political fallouts must be minimized or eliminated.  NRAs can help by launching media campaigns that focus on the fact that these factors hurt Assam in the long run. We need to create an atmosphere of pro-business in Assam.

Small businesses are easier to start, and also employ more people. These must be encouraged and NRAs can help launch workshops that focus on methods of setting up, and running small businesses. Methods and ways of financing can also dealt with in these seminars. NRAs in conjunction with commercial banks and the State government can if possible guarantee loans (up to a large percent) to small business start-ups. The state government would welcome such measures. The minister in charge of such ventures should be included in the process. This, is one area, I think, that NRAs can certainly help.

Health and Medical Facilities: This is another area that NRAs may be able to help. Mobile health clinics with the help of local doctors can be set-up. There are many NRA physicians that can help and advice. Assamese doctors abroad and in India should be willing to donate some of their time and expertise and set up these clinics.

NRAs can also help by buying vaccinations and other life-saving drugs in bulk for children in rural areas. Further, rural health clinics could be setup. Informational brochures on health issues in Assamese can be designed and here and printed in Assam for distribution. These brochures could deal with a variety of health issues. Along these lines, the media (radio) could be used effectively.

Agricultural & farming needs: NRAs can help here in some small way. They can help in areas of seed-procurement, help farmers buy fertilizers, and even tractors. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and FCI can be a big help in such areas. NRAs could approach ICAR to provide NRAs the findings and research the agency has done vis-à-vis Assam.

Small farmers can also be helped by providing them information and start-up costs to set up meat, chicken and fish farming. Financial help and providing information regarding of the benefits of cooperative farming can also be done. NRAs can help in providing information on pricing, storage, transportation, and a variety of other needs.

Conclusions: There are a myriad of problems, but how can the NRAs help solve all of these? The NRA approach should be to identify and deal with problems that can be solved with NRA help.

Some of the problems listed need long term commitments and a lot more funds that NRAs alone can handle. There are some problems that NRAs can make a positive change, and in others we can help only in marginal ways.

The main ingredients for any of this to come to fruition are:

Volunteerism: Time and commitments from NRAs is probably the most important.

Funds: This is also an important factor. Funds need to be collected not just from NRAs but also businesses and others from Assam. This is essential, as this creates a sense of involvement from non-NRAs also.

Basically, funds should be project oriented. There also can be different types of funds (long term, short term, emergency funds). Fund collections for cultural activities are not directly involved in the development aspects of Assam. They also tend to siphon off funds away from necessary targets for development. Readers will have to draw on their preferences regarding such donations.

Project Oriented: If NRAs are serious, this whole aspect regarding helping in the development of Assam has to be project oriented. There are many skilled professionals who can help here. Each project should have a team of highly dedicated NRAs who are willing to go beyond the normal boundaries of helping out.

Expertise: There are many NRAs who are not just professionals, but also experts in their fields. Each one of them can contribute professional expertise and some amount of time towards these causes.

Lastly, I would stress that NRAs can be successful only when they take the help, guidance, and tap on the immense resource potentials in Assam. There are many non-NRAs like attorneys, doctors, ministers and others in Assam who can make things happen with much greater ease.  NRAs will need to get their valuable inputs, help and expertise in solving problems.

I know the problems are immense. These are just some suggestions and an attempt in trying to help in our way of current thinking. I hope some of these suggestions resonate with the reader. I welcome suggestions and feedback, and hope we can all together make some positive changes.

- by Ram Sarangapani, Houston, Texas