Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Aug 5: Government is seriously contemplating to reorient the North Eastern Council (NEC) to meet the current requirements and to address the new emerging issues in the North Eastern Region.
This was disclosed here today by Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while chairing a high-level meeting of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) which was attended, among others, by Union Secretary DoNER Naveen Verma and Secretary NEC Ram Muivah.
Dr Jitendra Singh recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address during the Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) Meeting at Shillong on 27th May this year where he had emphasized the need to reorient and upgrade the North Eastern Council (NEC). He said, it was after 40 years that a Prime Minister of India had personally participated in an NEC meet being held at its headquarters at Shillong, which only reflects Narendra Modi’s priority, concern and vision for this region.
Referring to the earlier years of NEC when it was constituted in early 1970s, Dr Jitendra Singh said, much has changed since then and not only the level of expectation from the NEC has increased, but there is also an ever increasing spectrum of work undertaken by the Council. During the Vajpayee regime in 2004, a separate Ministry of DoNER was constituted, but it was felt that NEC should also maintain its individual identity.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, very soon, the officials of the Ministry of DoNER and NEC will sit together to prepare a road-map for the possible reorientation and upgradation of NEC. He said, a number of new institutions have been set up in the region during the recent years, which include, for example, IIMs and IITs in the education sector, Super-specialty hospitals in the health sector and and exclusive institutes like the North-Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC). An effort will be made, he said, to develop North-Eastern Council headquarter at Shillong as ‘Central Resource Pool’ for the entire region wherein all the diverse institutes, organizations and establishments can be linked to a common nodal point in order to bring about a better coordination with expeditious progress in every area.
At the meeting, Dr Jitendra Singh also received an update on the land to be acquired by NEC in NCR Delhi at two important locations of Dwarka and Rohini. He said, this land will sought to be used for bringing up hostels for North-Eastern students and at the same time for setting up a state-of-the-art ‘North Eastern Centre’ consisting of, among other things, a cultural centre and auditorium, which has been a long standing demand of the people from the North Eastern region living in Delhi.
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