Excelsior Correspondent
GUWAHATI, July 1: “As Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has visited the Northeast around 60 times in 9 years which could be more than the total number of visits by all his predecessors put together. The result is miraculous transformation in the region and Northeast being cited all over as Modi Govt’s development model”.
This was stated here today by the Union Minister of State (Ind. Charge) Science & Technology, MoS PMO, DoPT, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh while inaugurating the ” Purvoday” Conclave showcasing incredible transformation in Northeast during the last 9 years.
“Nine years ago, North East was in the news for wrong reasons. like insurgency, clash, etc.Youths were confused and disturbed. Now the situation has changed dramatically with the initiative of PM Narendra Modi. Northeastern youth are now part of India’s mainstream journey” he added.
PM Modi has visited the North-East more around 60 times in the last 9 years, while his Council of Ministers have also visited the North-East more than 400 times. And if there were no COVID the PM might have visited 100 times.
Interacting with the media, he said that during the last eight years, from 2014 to 2022, 1,350 projects worth Rs.15,867 crore have been sanctioned under the schemes of the Ministry of DoNER and NEC in the North-Eastern States. The Armed Forces Special Protection Act (AFSPA) has been completely removed from Tripura and Meghalaya, and majorly removed from Assam, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh barring some areas. Further, he added The Law & Order situation has been vastly improved as there has been a reduction of 63% in the incidents from 8700 cases during the period 2006-14 under UPA to only 3195 cases during the period of 2014-22, during the NDA-led Government of India. For the Financial Year 2023-24, the total Budget Estimates (BE) allocation is Rs. 5892.00 crore which is 114% higher than the Revised Estimates (RE) 2022-23 allocation of Rs. 2755.05 crore and 223% higher than the Revised Estimates (RE) 2014-15 allocation of 1825.5 crore. As per Union Budget 2023-24, the 10% Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) share (BE) for the region has been increased to Rs. 94,679.53 crore which is 31% higher than the RE 2022-23 allocation of Rs. 72,540.28 crore and 246% higher than the RE 2014- 15 allocation of Rs. 27,359.17 crore.
Elaborating on the road infrastructure development in the region, he said that Till 2013-14, the total length of National Highways in the North-east region was 8,480 km, which increased to 15,735 km in 2022-23 under the Modi government, showcasing a growth of 85.55%. Besides, since 2014-15, the government has spent Rs 19,855 crore for the development of new tracks and doubling the existing lines of the railways in the north-east region. The number of airports and waterways in the northeast region was 9 and 1 till 2014, which has increased to 17 and 18 respectively under the PM Modi-led NDA government.
A total of 4 power projects and 239 power projects have been sanctioned in the region under NESIDS and NLCPR scheme respectively worth Rs. 3,200 crores, out of which 211 projects worth Rs. 2031.79 crore have been completed.
The North-east region is also benefiting from the schemes such as SWADESH DARSHAN and PRASHAD for the promotion of Tourism in the region and Rs. 1502.48 crore have been sanctioned under both schemes for the region.
Reiterating Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s focus on education Dr jitendra Singh said that From 2014 till now, the Modi government has spent Rs 14,009 crores to promote higher education in the north-east and 191 new institutes of higher education have been set up. o There has been a 39% increase in the number of universities set up since 2014 and a 40% increase in central institutions of higher education set up since 2014-15. o Under the “IshanUday” Special Scholarship Scheme for financial assistance to students of the region, more than 44,000 fresh candidates were selected for the scholarship during 2015-16 to 2019-2020 and the total expenditure under the scheme for the fresh and renewal of the scholarship from 2015-16 to 2020-21 was Rs 661.1 crores.
Moreover, he said Under the Khelo India scheme, which was launched by the Modi Government in 2018, 62 sports infrastructure projects of various categories were sanctioned in the North East Region in 2021 at a cost of Rs. 423.01 crores.
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