DoNER Ministry highlights major activities taken up during 2017
Source: The Sangai Express

New Delhi, December 31 2017: Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has highlighted its major activities taken up during the year 2017 .

According to a press release of Press Information Bureau (PIB), on December 3, MoS Dr Jitendra Singh announced Rs.90 crore for "Northeast Hill Area Development" beginning from Tamenglong district on a pilot basis, in the first phase, for a period of two years.

Inaugurating a two-week "Northeast handicraft-cum-handloom Exhibition-cum-Sale Bonanza" in New Delhi, he said the Ministry of DoNER got engaged in a detailed discussion with the Department of Expenditure and it was realised that for pursuing the additional objective of public welfare, an additional vertical sub-scheme may be created under the existing schemes for the Hill Area Development in the North Eastern States.

Dr Jitendra announced the launch of "Hill Area Development Programme" (HADP) for Northeast in Imphal (Manipur) on June 5, 2017.The announcement was made during a meet of Investors and Entrepreneurs, organised by NEDFi (North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd), with joint participation of the Ministry of DoNER and the Government of Manipur.

The scheme will benefit the hilly areas of Manipur, Tripura and Assam, it said.

On November 16, a two-day "12th North-East Business Summit" was inaugurated by MoS Dr Jitendra Singh in New Delhi.

The summit aimed to explore the scope for business opportunities in the North-Eastern region of India.

Focus areas were Infrastructure and Connectivity with Public Private Partnership, Skill Development, Financial Inclusion, Services Sector Development- Particularly in Tourism, Hospitality & Food Processing, it maintained.

In October, the Government constituted a high-level committee for proper management of the water resources in the North Eastern Region (NER) under the Chairmanship of Vice-Chairman, Niti Aayog.

This is a sequel to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Guwahati in August this year to review the flood situation and relief work in the North Eastern States.

The Committee would facilitate optimising benefits of appropriate water management in the form of hydro-electric power, agriculture, bio-diversity conservation, reduced flood damage erosion, inland water transport, forestry, fishery and eco-tourism.

Ministry of DoNER serves as the coordinating point, it claimed.

The Committee will submit its report, including Plan of Action, by June, 2018.The same month, the Ministry of DoNER sanctioned Rs 200 crore for flood affected reconstruction works in the four North Eastern States of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

This year witnessed unprecedented floods and the rainfall was more than 100 percent higher than that in the preceding months during the same period of time.

Earlier during his visit to Northeast in August to review the flood situation in the four States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a flood relief package of Rs 2,000 crore.

Ministry of DoNER started an extensive exercise to reorient and rejuvenate the North Eastern Council (NEC) in a new format so that it could perform the effective role of an important resource-cum-research centre for the entire region and could be developed as the hub of innovation for the upliftment of entire Northeast.

The MoS Dr Jitendra Singh said that a proposal in this regard has already been circulated and is presently under the active consideration of the Government of India.

NEC was set up way back in early 1970s with the intention to give special focus to the development of this region, the release added.

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