Sudhir Kumar / AMN
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that North East was, in a way, a gateway to India’s ancient cultural relationships with East Asia. He said that the region has potential to become India’s growth engine as now peace is being established in the entire N-E region.
Laying the foundation stone of Manipur water supply project via video conference today, Prime Minister said that it has been designed to provide safe drinking water to every household of the State for the next 20-22 years and lakhs of people will get access to clean drinking water and thousands of people will get employment.
The Prime Minister said, the mantra of peace, progress and prosperity is echoing in the Northeast, and day by day my faith is getting deeper because peace is now being established in the entire region. While blockades in Manipur have become a part of history, Assam has witnessed a phase of violence for decades. In Tripura and Mizoram too, youth have abandoned the path of violence. Now Bru-Reang refugees are moving towards a better life,” he said.
He said Agro Start-ups and other industries will benefit from these clusters. He said that the North East has the potential to replace India’s Bamboo Import with Local Production. There is such a huge demand for incense sticks in the country, but still we import billions of rupees worth incense sticks. PM said that hundreds of crores of rupees are being invested under the National Bamboo Mission for Bamboo farmers, artists associated with handicrafts and other facilities. This will benefit the youth of the North East, the start ups here.
The Prime Minister said that many institutes are now being built in the North East for health, education, skill development, start-ups and other training. With the launch of the Sports university and a world class stadiums, Manipur will become a major hub for the country’s sports talent.
The Prime Minister also talked about the potential of the tourism industry in the North East Region and development of the region as a bamboo industry hub. Regarding the massive development works taken up in Manipur, the Prime Minister said that the Imphal – Jiribam railways work is going on with an allocation of Rs 14,000 crores while Rs. 3,000 crore has been sanctioned for the development of Imphal International Airport.
The Prime Minister also talked about the potential of tourism industries in the North East region and development of the region as bamboo industry hubs. He also appealed to people of the country to use hand sanitizers, face masks and follow the Covid-19 related guidelines which are the only weapons to fight Covid pandemic as of now.
Talking from Imphal through tele-conferencing, the Chief Minister said, the state law and order has improved since BJP has come to power. There is no economic blockade which used to frequently happen during the previous regime of Congress and the relation between hill and valley communities has improved.
Home Minister Amit Shah has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for laying the foundation stone of Manipur Water Supply Project. In a series of tweets today, Mr Shah described the occasion as unprecedented and said the project will provide safe drinking water to more than 2.8 lakh households. He said it will also generate huge employment opportunities in the state. Mr Shah said that this project reflects Prime Minister Modi’s resolve towards ‘Har Ghar Jal’ and a prosperous North East. He said, development and prosperity of the North Eastern region has always been the top priority of the Modi government.