A Report On The Expectations Of Children Expressed On Children's Day, November 14, 2003

India has twenty – eight states and seven union territories. Of which seven states comprises together as the North East of India. They are Assam, Manipur , Meghalaya , Mizoram, Nagaland,Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. Sikkim is also situated in the north eastern part of India. Thetotal population in North East is 39035582 (2001 census report) .The geographical features is aboon and a bane to the people of this region. The combination of plains and hills provide ascenic beauty while on the other hand , as it shares borders with many neighbouring countriesit is politically a hyper- sensitive zone. The strategic importance of this area to India’s securityand integrity needs to be reiterated. Hemmed by all sides by foreign countries, forces inimical tothe well – being of the nation have found a fertile soil in the North – East, upon which to planttheir subversion seeds. The socio- cultural and economic environment is also different from therest of the country , due to intermingling of various ethnic and religious groups. A largely rural,agrarian population, people are unable to accept change on a very fast track thus allowingmodernity to mix with ethnicity gradually. The effect of this is seen on the children who areunable to keep pace with the rest of the world due to lack of exposure and knowledge in all spheres. People are still struggling to meet their basic needs while the rest of the country has gone ahead in all aspects.It has now been acknowledged that economic development and upliftment of the children is the sole panacea through which growth and development of this region can be achieved.