The 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, here today, that a sizeable population of Northeast living in Delhi has, in fact, enriched the union capital in more ways than one. The Minister was addressing a congregation of senior Delhi based Northeast officers working in different government departments in the union capital. While they are assets to whichever department they are posted, on the other hand, they also add unique healthy dimension to the multi-ethnic character of the country’s capital city of Delhi, he added. Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the Ministry of DoNER has taken upon itself the dual responsibility of implementing the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for development of Northeast and at the same time, to act as a bridge of hearts and minds between Northeast and the rest of the country.
Referring to some of the important decisions taken in a brief period of about eight weeks as in-charge of the Ministry, Dr. Jitendra Singh particularly mentioned the initiative to have a DoNER camp secretariat office by rotation in each of the eight States of the Northeast region. In this regard, he informed that first such camp secretariat was held in the State of Manipur in January and the second one in Arunachal Pradesh last week. The camp secretariat will have in attendance Secretary DoNER and other senior officers from the Union DoNER Ministry who will travel to the state and hold interaction with various sections of society and elected representatives, besides making an on-the-spot assessment of the ongoing development works, he added. This, he said, will also help sending out a positive message that the people of Northeast do not have to travel to Delhi each time for redressal of their grievances but it is New Delhi which will reach out to them in their native State. Considering the immense youth potential of the Northeastern region, Dr. Jitendra Singh referred to the decision to set up a Sports university, new agricultural colleges and other educational institutions there so that the youth exodus from the region could be curtailed. At the same time, for the students living in Delhi, hostels have been planned in the campuses of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Ramanujan College, he added.
Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that an inter-ministerial meeting was held two weeks back with the Union Ministry of Tourism and a Standing Committee of the two Ministries has been constituted to work out various means of attracting tourists, film makers and holiday seekers to Northeastern region, which will generate immense opportunities for job and revenue generation. On the similar lines, he said, an inter-ministerial meeting is being contemplated with the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation to address the most widely felt problem of poor air connectivity in the region particularly in the backdrop of rail network and road highways. Dr. Jitendra Singh called upon to officers of Northeastern origin living in Delhi to act as resource persons for the DoNER Ministry to help the government to discharge its obligations towards the region in a more effective manner and at the same time also help spreading finer features of Northeastern culture among their circle of colleagues and friends in whichever office or department they work.