Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, June 19 : Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Pema Khandu called on Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh to convey his good wishes on taking over as DoNER Minister for the second consecutive term. He also discussed State’s development projects with the Minister.
During a meeting lasting nearly 45 minutes, the Chief Minister and DoNER Minister discussed the progress of the new Airport coming up at Itanagar. The Chief Minister also requested for a proposal to set up an Airport under UDAAN sceme at Tawang, which the DONER Minister said, could be discussed with the Ministry of Aviation.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that under the Modi government, the development activities were put on fast track and one of the results of this was that Arunachal Pradesh, which did not have a single airport for several decades, will now have a new airport at Itanagar. Similarly, he said, when the Modi government came in 2014, Arunachal Pradesh had never seen a train. Today he said, there is regular “Arunachal Express” train running from Itanagar to Delhi which was flagged-off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. He said, in the times to come, there could also be a proposal to have a Rajdhani Express.
Describing Arunachal Pradesh as a land of unexplored places, Dr Jitendra Singh said, there have been hardly any Bollywood shootings in the past because of lack of infrastructure for film production and equipment etc. He recalled that when he took up the issue with the then Information and Broadcasting Minister, Arun Jaitley, an exclusive Film and Television Institute was approved for Arunachal Pradesh, on the same lines as Pune Institute of Film and Television. Chief Minister Pema Khandu informed Dr Jitendra Singh that the work is in progress for setting up this institute.
Pema Khandu also took up the issue of IAS cadre allocation for Arunachal Pradesh which, he said, could be addressed by Dr Jitendra Singh because he is also the Minister In-Charge DOPT as well. Presently Arunachal Pradesh is a part of the AGMUT cadre, which shares its officers with Mizoram, Goa and Union Territories.
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