Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh today called on Governor of Assam, Prof Jagdish Mukhi at Raj Bhavan at Guwahati and apprised him of a wide range of issues including the ongoing development projects in the State. He also offered a brief about the projects launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today during his visit to Assam.Prof Jagdish Mukhi appreciated the development that has taken place in Assam during the last over six years. He commended Prime Minister Narenda Modi for having paved the way for restoration of peace in Assam which has enabled uninterrupted development. He also appreciated innovative methods adopted by the Ministry of North East (DoNER) for expediting the various infrastructure projects and ensuring optimum utilization of funds.The DoNER Minister informed the Governor that in the last four years or so, we have successfully initiated innovative techniques of procuring UCs (Utilisation Certificates) through Space Satellite Imaging Technique. This, he said, not only saves time but also provides real-time and authentic images.
In order to fast track the development pace of projects, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the submission of DPRs (Detailed Project Reports) and other relevant documents has been made totally online and automatic reminders and alerts are sent to the respective State governments, whenever required. Similarly, he said, to avoid delays and to cut short procedures, the respective State governments have been asked to submit their DPRs directly without much interface.In spite of the COVID pandemic, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Ministry of North East (DoNER) was able to accomplish full utilization of allocated funds much before the month of March. He said, while elsewhere there might have been some disruption in the working because of lockdown and other constraints, the working in the Ministry of DoNER did not get interrupted even for a single day because it was the first Ministry to totally switch over to e-office way back around five years ago.The DoNER Minister also apprised the Governor about the recent decision taken for allocation of certain portion of North Eastern Council (NEC) funds for development of neglected areas and deprived sections of society. He invited the Governor to pay a visit at the NEC headquarters at Shillong.