The Nagaland Minister for Higher & Technical Education, Temjen Imna Along called on the 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, here today.During the meeting, Shri Along discussed various issues related to setting up of new educational projects in Nagaland and related to the technical and medical educational facilities. The Nagaland Minsiter said that the state wants to promote higher education avenues for youth and wants to become a hub for educational facilities.Dr Jitendra Singh said that development of North Eastern region is on the priority of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He said that the Prime Minister has made several visits to North Eastern states, which shows the importance that Government accords to the peripheral states. He added that he will take up the issues raised by the Nagaland Minister with the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
Shri Singh said that education plays an important role in the development of youth of the country. He added that educational facilities have played an important role in the peripheral states such as North East and Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). The migration of youth from the North East in search of job opportunities has come down in the recent past, he added. He also mentioned about the ‘Kashmir Super 30’ initiative of Indian Army, through which the students from weaker sections of society in J&K have made to the prestigious IITs and NITs. The energies of youth need to be channelized in right direction and education is an important tool of it, specially in the insurgency and conflict-hit areas, he added. The Minister said that accreditation conditions for educational institutes in North Eastern states should be made as per the peculiar topographic conditions there.The DoNER Minister informed that an exclusive ‘NITI Forum for North-East’ has been set up by the Government recently which has been tasked to identify various constraints on the way of accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the North East Region of the country and to recommend suitable interventions for addressing identified constraints. The first meeting of the NITI Forum was held on 10th April, he added. The Minister said that Government is committed to the development of North East and will assist the states in every possible manner.