Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, July 8: There is nearly 15% hike in the 2019-20 budget for the Ministry of Northeast (DoNER), from Rs.2629 crore in last financial year 2018-19 to Rs.3,000 crore in the current financial year. This is in addition to the 10% budget allocation from each of the non-exempted Ministries, which will also correspondingly find a substantial increase of about 25 % in the current year.
Disclosing this here today, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Modi Government’s priority for Northeast will continue in the second term as well and no stone will be left unturned to achieve the objective laid down before us by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring Northeast at par with the other parts of the country. The transformation witnessed in the last five years is to be seen to be believed and very soon, Northeast is going to be the favorite destination, both for entrepreneurs as well as tourists, he said.
The transformation in the region, said Dr Jitendra Singh, is not only at the infrastructural and development level, but also at the psycho social level, for which the maximum credit goes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal outreach who has, as Prime Minister, visited the North Eastern region more than 30 to 35 times, which could be a record in itself. Not only this, Modi as Prime Minister personally chaired the meeting of the North Eastern Couuncil at Shillong and issued instructions for setting up a separate NITI Aayog Forum for Northeast, he added.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, today there is a network of roads and double gauge rail tracks being laid down at a fast pace in different States of North Eastern region and for the first time, a special focus has been given to Inland Water ways as an alternative and cost-effective mode of transport. The rail track for the first-ever train to Bangladesh from Agartala in Tripura is also being laid down.
Modi Government’s decision to introduce an exclusive North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and to amend the 100 year old Indian Forest Act for Bamboo cultivation will not only open new avenues of livelihood, but also strengthen the “Act East” initiatives through trade and business, said Dr Jitendra Singh.
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