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Special economic package for Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills

	November 20, 2006

The Assam Government is working on a “special” economic package for the twin hill districts of Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills to convince the dominant militant groups there - the United People’s Democratic Solidarity and the Dima Halam Daogah - to give up their demand for statehood.



The idea is to build the economic package around the demands raised by both militant groups during talks with the government.



An official said the package could encourage the outfits to drop their demand for statehood and involve themselves in planning and development of the backward districts.



“We are planning the package in such a way that it could be close to the budgets of certain states whose territories are smaller than the two districts combined. If we draw up an annual budget that is more than that of these states or at least on par, we see no reason for its rejection by the militant leadership. The package could be worth around Rs 500 crore,” he added.



The annual budget of the North Cachar Hills is around Rs 70 crore and that of Karbi Anglong is close to Rs 130 crore.