Rs 10,000-cr package makes 2008 a watershed year for Arunachal

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing in January a huge Rs 10,000-crore economic package for the state, 2008 will go down as a watershed year for Arunachal Pradesh.

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announcing in January a huge Rs 10,000-crore economic package for the state, 2008 will go down as a watershed year for Arunachal Pradesh.

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The package includes a greenfield airport, a 1,800-km trans-Arunachal highway connecting all 13 district headquarters of the state, a broad guage rail link and a four-lane road network.

According to Governor J J Singh, work on the projects will start early next year and will be completed in a time-bound manner.

Singh, who is a former chief of the Army, was appointed in January just before the PM's visit to the state.

He is monitoring the implementation of the projects in liaison with the prime minister's office (PMO).

Work on the broad gauge rail link and the four-lane road network is currently going on. Construction of a massive 3,000-km inter-district road network will be taken up soon.

With the largesse from the Centre, the ruling Congress is hoping to enjoy a distinct edge over its main rival, the BJP, in the assembly and parliamentary polls due next year.

Incidentally, in June last year, eight of the nine BJP MLAs in the state defected to to the ruling Congress claiming that the BJP was not working in the interest of the state's people.