Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Feb 12: Addressing the All India Governors’ Conference presided over by President Pranab Mukherjee here today, 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 said that during the past 90 days ever since he was entrusted the responsibility of looking after the Ministry of DoNER, what precisely he has learnt about North-east is that in a country like India known for its diversity, North-east is the best example of “diversity within diversity”.
Lauding and supplementing External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s observations regarding “Act East” policy in relation to foreign countries, Dr Jitendra Singh assured that the DoNER Ministry will discharge its duty by “acting East” inside the territory of Indian borders while the External Affairs Ministry will “act East” beyond the Indian borders.
In a Power Point presentation aided by illustrations and statistical projections, Dr Jitendra Singh referred to several new initiatives taken by him during the last few months and also the future roadmap for the months and years to come.
Referring to the inauguration of Katra – Mata Vaishno Devi Railway Station by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the month of July, 2014 as a historic landmark after taking over of the present Government on May 26, 2014, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the inauguration of the Dudhnoi-Mendipathar railway line by Prime Minister on November 29, 2014 was the second historic landmark in recent times because it brought the State of Meghalaya on India’s Rail map by giving it first every rail connection.
Learning from his experience of Jammu & Kashmir which follows the practice of having a mini-secretariat in Jammu when the capital is in Srinagar during summers and vice-versa, Dr Jitendra Singh said, he has applied the same practice in North-east from January this year, wherein the Secretary, DoNER and Joint Secretaries will be holding a camp secretariat office by rotation every month in each of the eight States and informed that two such camps have already been held in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh respectively in the months of January and February. This, he said, will send out a loud message to the people of North-east that they do not need to travel to New Delhi each time they have a problem. On the contrary, it is New Delhi which will reach out to them.
Seeking to revive the North-Eastern Council (NEC), Dr Jitendra Singh claimed that for the first time after 10 years, a meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) attended by Chief Ministers and Governors of the region was held in the Headquarter building itself in Shillong.
During the last two months, Dr. Jitendra Singh said, the DoNER Ministry has facilitated tours to the region by senior Ministers including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti, Social Justice & Empowerment Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot. At the same time, he added, he had assigned a Nodal Officer with a phone number providing call-centre type facility in Vigyan Bhawan Annexe to record all the calls received in relation to Northeast.
In an attempt to bridge the psychological barriers and bring the youth of North-east closer to mainstream India, Dr. Jitendra Singh referred to the decision to set up two new hostels at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and South Campus of Delhi University.
Inspired by Prime Minister’s “Make in India”, Dr Jitendra Singh said, a concept paper titled “Make in Northeast” had been prepared and he is personally trying to reach out to the industrial houses to promote organic farming and food processing which will generate revenue as well as employment. He also referred to the sanction of 18 new FM channels for North-east last month.
Dr. Jitendra Singh’s presentation was widely lauded by all the participating Governors and other dignitaries at the meeting, who appreciated the headway made by him in promoting the DoNER Ministry’s work within a short span of time.
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