STATE TIMES NEWS
GUWAHATI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that during the last two years of the Modi Government, the North-Eastern region had touched new heights of development and the DoNER Ministry had also reoriented itself with a number of improvisations.
This has been possible primarily because of the high priority focus accorded to Northeast by none less than Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, he said.
Speaking at the inaugural conclave of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) chaired by BJP National President Amit Shah and attended, among others, by BJP National General Secretary (Org.) Ram Lal, BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav, Chief Minister Assam Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister Nagaland T.R Zeliang, Chief Minister Arunachal Pradesh Kalikho Pul, Chief Minister Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling and leaders of NEDA, Dr Jitendra said that it was during the Modi regime of last two years that states like Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, for the first time, came on the rail-map of India.
Soon after the completion of two years of Modi Government on 26th May this year, on 27th May morning itself the Prime Minister visited Shillong and dedicated three important trains to the nation, including the first ever direct train between Kamakhya in Assam to Katra Vaishno Devi, in Jammu and Kashmir that will connect the two pilgrim towns of Devi Peeth of Maa Kamakhya and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine.
In addition, he said, a decision has been taken to extend broad gauge rail track to all states barring Sikkim, in near future. The rail track to Bangladesh from Tripura is also being funded by the DoNER Ministry, he added.
Giving a special impetus to road construction in the region, Dr Singh said, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways plans to construct National Highway road of over 1,000 kms in the current year, mainly in the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura.
Similarly, four-laning of road has been undertaken in important sectors, including Dimapur-Kohima, Imphal-Moreh and Aizawl-Tipong.
Not only this, Dr Jitendra said, for the first time in the history of independent India, an exclusive regional road corporation has been set up for Northeast under the name ‘North East Road Sector Development Scheme’ which will primarily concentrate on orphan roads between the States, for which budget of Rs.150 Cr has been earmarked for this year. At the same time, new waterways are also under construction, he added.
Carrying forward the spirit of Prime Minister’s ‘Startup India’ programme, Dr Jitendra said, NEDFI (North Eastern Development Finance Corporation) under DoNER Ministry has increased its annual budget from Rs. 30 Cr to Rs. 75 Cr, while capacity building and technical scheme for skill development has increased its budget from Rs.16 Cr to Rs. 72 Cr this year. In addition to the various incentives being provided to youth under PM’s ‘Startup India, Standup India’ programme, DoNER has decided to give additional incentive of providing ‘Venture Fund’ to youth who undertake a Startup initiative in Northeast, he said.
