There is an indifferent attitude, almost of a colonial type, in the mainland of India towards NE. This needs to be changed through an arrangement so as to remove the feeling of alienation that afflicts the psyche of the NE people and thus to save the integrity of the country. For the purpose, the Rajya Sabha should be turned into a true council of States with a decisive say on the Union Budget. This was the observation made by Dr Ashok Mitra, one of the leading economists of the country and a former Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India. Also a former Finance Minister of West Bengal, Dr Mitra was delivering the Foundation Day lecture of the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development here today on