@AmitShah
AMN / Shillong
The Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah addressed the 71st Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council in Shillong, Meghalaya on Friday. In his address, the Home Minister said that the last 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been the most significant for the development of the Northeast in the 75 years since independence.
He said that in these 10 years not only the distance from Northeast to Delhi and the rest of India has reduced due to the creation of infrastructure, but the difference of hearts has also reduced. He said that the Northeast, which was struggling with various ethnic, linguistic, border and extremist groups related problems, has also got the beginning of a fresh and durable era of peace in these 10 years.
Mr Shah said that if these 10 years for the Northeast are compared with the 75 years after the country’s independence, then this decade will definitely be considered as the Golden period of the Northeast. He said that we have always considered the Northeast as an important part of India. Today under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the three mantras of ‘Act East, Act Fast and Act First’ are being implemented. Along with this, impetus is being given to the Northeast by giving priority to it in all the ministries of the Government of India.
The Union Home Minister said that in the 50 years of its establishment, the North Eastern Council (NEC) has increased the pace of development of the region by providing a policy-related platform to all the states and simplifying the solutions to their problems. He highlighted a slew of infrastructure projects undertaken by the NEC and said that in these 50 years, more than 12,000 kilometres of roads have been constructed in this region, 700 MW power plants have been established and many institutes of national excellence have also been established under the guidance of NEC. He said that in the last few years, the Modi government has achieved significant success in solving the problems of law and order, insurgency and borders in this region. Along with this, work has also been done to promote the use of technology in administration by using North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC). He said that the language, culture, food, attire and natural beauty of Northeast will give a great boost to this region in global tourism. The Union Home Minister also released the NEC Year Book – 2024 today. Mr Shah urged all the states to control the Gross Fiscal Deficit and said that Manipur, Assam, Nagaland and Tripura have made commendable efforts in this direction. He said that we will have to give thrust to create a flood-free and drug-free Northeast and strengthen water management by using NESAC. Shah added that to bring peace and stability in the Northeast, the Modi government has signed 9 agreements and through these, many pending issues related to law and order have been successfully resolved. He said that except some parts of Assam and Manipur, 75 percent of the areas covered under Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 2018 have been removed. Shah said that when India is going to become a 5 trillion-dollar economy, the Northeast should also set a target of giving its Lion’s share in this effort and when the whole of India becomes completely developed and self-reliant in 2047, then our North-East will also become fully developed and self-reliant. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphu Rio, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhawma, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Sing Tamang and Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha attended the plenary session. The focus areas in the plenary session included investment policies, programmes, industry 4.0 for the NER, strengthening of logistics, and inter-regional trade/import substitution/export.