12th SKOCH Summit | Tuesday & Wednesday | 14th & 15th November 2006 | NEC, Shillong, Meghalaya
Encouraged by the success and moved by the felt needs, we took our signature skoch summit to the North East through partnership with Government of Meghalaya and other interested stakeholders.
The North East @ Work Summit was held on the 14th and 15th November 2006 at Shillong. This two day conference focused on “Challenges & Opportunities”.
The North East is a region of our country with unique characteristics and a geographically challenging terrain. Specific initiatives and policies tailored to this region are therefore needed to set it on a virtuous growth cycle. The Financial Sector Plan for the North East released by the Reserve Bank of India and the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology are important initiatives in this direction.
An actionable plan for the digital and financial inclusion of the North Eastern Region necessitates local dialogue and sensitization of all stakeholders in order to dovetail the diverse development initiatives for the delivery of felt needs. It is in this context that an exercise like the Skoch North East @ Work Summit that brought together academia, civil society, local governments, bankers, industry as well as central government stakeholders together for a participative dialogue is extremely useful.
The Skoch North East @ Work Summit particularly useful. It has brought into focus the supply side dynamics in financial inclusion, with recommendations covering use of post offices, leveraging of information kiosks models like Common Services Centres being set up by the Government under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). It also recommends increased disbursements of central andstate funded schemes like National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) etc. through the banking system, adopting appropriate technology solutions, establishing adequate connectivity and initiating capacity building measures in the region.