Correspondent SHILLONG, OCT 5 : Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday stressed on the need to hold talks with insurgent groups and ensure that they give up arms and join the peace process, asserting that peace is prerequisite for all round development of the North Eastern region.
Expressing happiness that insurgency was on the decline in the region, Naidu said: “What is required is peace, which is prerequisite for the progress of the people; all round development of the people in education, health, employment opportunities and connectivity which are vital to the people of the North East. Because of the fear of the gun many things have been obstructed.”
“Now it is time that we must utilize this peaceful atmosphere and create a proper ecosystem for the development of the state in a fast track manner,” Naidu said after laying the foundation stone for improvement and widening project of the Shillong-Dawki section of the NH-40 in Shillong.
Observing that the North Eastern region had the potential to become the “growth engine” of the country, Naidu called for fast-tracking of all the developmental activities and utilization of Central funds for various projects with transparency and accountability.
“If we can expedite all projects here without delay or diversion, North Eastern states have the potential to become the growth engines of the country,” Naidu said.
Naidu, who also addressed a workshop on “Changing Role of North Eastern Council in the Development of North Eastern Region”, urged the North Eastern Council (NEC) to propel the region on a resurgent phase of accelerated development by quickly resolving issues that have been impeding its progress.
“India’s progress cannot be complete if there is uneven progress in various regions. If the North East region progresses, India progresses. If the region lags behind, India lags behind,” he said
He said the NEC can be an effective instrument to bring coherence to these dreams, strategize, plan, catalyze and coordinate the implementation in conjunction with the State governments.
“This is the right time to revisit the approaches of NEC as it braces up to meet the challenges of the winds of change that need to be harnessed in the interest of North Eastern region and its people,” Naidu said, adding that the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has embarked on a path of reform in all spheres with a view to improve performance and productivity.
Voicing happiness over the perceptible change in the economy of the North East region over the past six-seven years, the Vice President said the Per Capita Net State Domestic Product of all the states has grown significantly.
“The growth was as high as 87 per cent in Mizoram and 75 per cent in Tripura. The Per Capita Net State Domestic Products of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Sikkim were higher than that of Net National Income during the last two financial years and that of Nagaland and Tripura are close to the national average. While the Net National Income of the country increased by about 60 per cent during 2018-20 over that of 2013-14, the increase in that of 6 of the 8 North-Eastern States was more than the national average,” he informed.
“Seven of the eight North-Eastern States have better human development indicators than the national average as per the National Human Development Index 2019. Only Assam scoring 0.613 was slightly below the Indian average of 0.645. While there has been overall progress in the economic and human development profile, there are quite a few areas that need further attention,” he said, urging the NEC to focus on identified gaps in respect of socio-economic development.
Later, the Vice President attended a cultural program at Raj Bhawan, followed by an interaction with achievers in various fields from Meghalaya in the presence of chief minister Conrad Sangma, Union minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G. Kishan Reddy, DoNER secretary Lok Ranjan, NEC secretary Moses Chalai and other dignitaries.
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