By Press Information Bureau
SHILLONG/NEW DELHI:The Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday addressed Plenary Session of the North-Eastern Council in Shillong in Meghalaya.
“I am very happy to be here for the North Eastern Council Plenary meeting. I also take this opportunity of welcoming you all to this meeting. I hope that the deliberations that have already taken place since yesterday and further deliberations that we have today, will help in faster development of this region,” he said.
I am also happy to note that the North Eastern Council has provided support in the development of the North East region. It has been instrumental in establishment of a number of institutions and taking up infrastructure projects in the region.
The North Eastern Council was set up in 1972. Since then it has contributed to the development of the North East region. To meet the growing aspirations of the people, it is important that the North Eastern Council introspects and assesses the extent to which it has been able to achieve its objectives. Perhaps, there is a need to re-orient and upgrade the North Eastern Council. You may like to consider developing the North Eastern Council as a state-of-the-art resource centre for the North Eastern states with the necessary resources, knowledge and skills. The resource centre may enable the states and the implementing agencies to properly plan and execute projects, promote research and innovations and provide strategic policy vision for the region.
The North Eastern Council may look into developing a specialised domain expertise either by itself or through an agency model to assist states and central ministries in their development planning as also problem solving needs. This will enable the imbibing of good governance and best practices in the region. The North Eastern Council should also consider focussing on issues in emerging areas of livelihood, entrepreneurship, venture funds, start-ups and skill development. All this will help in generating jobs.
The government has been focussing on the development of the North East region through its pro-active “Act East Policy”. As part of this policy, we are focussing on reducing the isolation of the region by improving all round connectivity through road, rail, telecom, power and waterways sectors.
If the western region of the country can develop, if other regions of the country can develop, I see no reason why the North East region of the country cannot develop. I am also convinced that India can move forward if all the regions develop including the North East region. The North East region is also very important to us for strategic reasons. And it is my conviction that we have to bring this region at par with, he added.
