Utpal Borpujari / New Delhi
With elections approaching, the BJP-led Central government has chosen to play Santa to the big population of Northeast students in various cities of India, announcing that special hostels for them would come up in Delhi, Bengaluru and several cities of the country.
An announcement to this effect was made by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Dr Jitendra Singh on Monday while addressing in Delhi a group of students from Northeast who are touring several cities under the annual “Students Experience in Inter-State Living” (SEIL) programme.
A Northeast Hostel for Girl Students is ready for inauguration at the Bangalore University campus and an exclusive Northeast Hostel is under construction at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi, where a very large number of youth are pursuing higher studies, he said.
In addition, land is being acquired in Rohini area of Delhi to set up a hostel for Northeast students studying in Delhi University, and land has been acquired in Dwarka, New Delhi to construct a state-of-the-art Northeast Convention Centre.
Dr Jitendra underscored that one of the major achievements of the Narendra Modi government has been starting facilities for cost-effective living through hostels and other means in different parts of the country for Northeastern students.
He said that the government focus on the youth of the region could be gauged from the fact that the “Start-up India, Stand-up India” programme initiated by the Prime Minister had been implemented in the Northeast with an added incentive from the Ministry of DoNER in the form of “Venture Fund” to be provided to any young entrepreneur or Start-Up who wished to pursue it in the region.
“The response to this has been very encouraging and in the years to come, Northeast may become a favourite destination for young Start-Ups from all over India,” he said.
He also mentioned the Northeast Rural Livelihood Programme and promotion of “Home Tourism” as examples of government’s push to generate employment in the region, stressing that the latter had become a major source of livelihood and revenue generation, especially in states like Meghalaya and Sikkim.