Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh has urged upon the Members of Parliament (MPs) from the eight North Eastern States to play a proactive role in the various initiatives and development projects launched by the Narendra Modi Government during the last 14 months.Dr Jitendra Singh was speaking at a luncheon meeting here today hosted by him in the Parliament House Annexe for over 40 MPs, including former Speaker and President of the Northeast MPs Forum, Shri P.A. Sangma. Dr Jitendra Singh said, soon after taking over the charge of the DoNER Ministry, he started the process of regular interaction with the MPs from Northeast in order to keep them on board in every decision-making, because they are important stakeholders for anything that is planned for the region.Dr Jitendra Singh observed that the various plans under the North-Eastern Council (NEC) and Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) take into cognizance the priorities laid down by the State Government and therefore, in order to avoid any possibility of miscommunication and also to ensure wider involvement, the process of regular and exclusive interaction with the MPs of the region has proved highly fruitful. This becomes all the more imperative considering the fact that across the party lines, the region has a huge number of MPs who, regardless of their political affiliations, share certain common views which are of great significance for the development of the region.
Referring to some of the innovative programmes in the offing, Dr Jitendra Singh said, the Organic Farming Mission, inspired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, is already in the pipeline and after going through the process of inter-ministerial consultation, it will be placed before the cabinet. An amount of Rs.125 crore has been earmarked for this Mission in the current financial year, he informed. This initiative will also reinforce “Act East Policy” initiated by the Prime Minister. Dr Jitendra Singh informed the MPs that a new initiative called “DoNER at Doorstep”, wherein the officers of the Ministry of DoNER hold Camp Secretariat by rotation every month in each of the eight States has proved highly popular. It has also sent out a positive signal that for redressal of their grievances, people of Northeast need not travel to Delhi but on the other hand, DoNER can also travel to their doorstep. He said that the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, in his “Man-ki-Baat” radio broadcast on Sunday, 26th July, had made a special mention with appreciation for this initiative.Dr Jitendra Singh took note of the suggestions given by different MPs and said that he would expect to be in regular touch with them and would also feel obliged to be guided by veterans like Shri P.A. Sangma. The MPs were highly appreciative of Dr Jitendra Singh’s gesture and said that this was for the first time that a DoNER Minister had tried to reach out exclusively to the MPs and hold one-to-one interaction on a personal basis with them.
Kiren Rijiju meets Civil Aviation Minister Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju on air safety issues in North-East
Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs today met Shri Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Union Minister of Civil Aviation on the issue of air safety in flight operations in North-Eastern States. Meeting was also attended by Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA) and CMD, Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd. (PHHL). In light of recent tragic incident of helicopter crash in Tirap District of Arunachal Pradesh, in which DC, Tirap and two Pilots of Pawan Hans lost their lives, both the Ministers expressed concern and decided to review and strengthen the safety measures to avoid any such incident in future. Minister of Civil Aviation informed that inquiry has already been ordered into the incident which is being conducted by Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and being monitored by Director General Civil Aviation (DGCA). He also instructed the DGCA to collect the details of all the past incidents and analyze, which will aid in creating a robust and safe air service system in North East. Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs highlighted the fact that North East is the rainiest and cloudiest area in the world and due to difficult mountain terrain aircraft operation needs constant technological upgradation to ensure safety and confidence building. Both the Ministers felt that necessary technological corrections are immediately required. Shri Kiren Rijiju also highlighted the need for replacement of old MI 172 old Helicopter with a new ones with less than ten years of age, establishing communication centre like Air Traffic Controller (ATC) at Naharlagun Helipad in Arunachal Pradesh by DGCA and installation of Helicopter Tracking System in the Pawan Hans fleet flying in Arunachal Pradesh & other States of North East.
Shri Kiren Rijiju requested the Civil Aviation Minister to immediately send the team of DGCA to Arunachal Pradesh for inspection of important helipads for upgradation purpose and also for operationalisation of Tawang helipad. He also took up the case of introducing fixed wing aircraft operations as most of the ALGs in Arunachal Pradesh are in advance stage of completion. It was also decided to check the availability of funds with the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DONER) for improving the air service in the North East. Lastly, CMD, Pawan Hans Helicopter Ltd. was also directed to immediately release the compensation to the deceased.