Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jitendra Singh on October 17, 2017, said that the North Eastern Council (NEC) will be reoriented and developed as a state-of-the-art resource centre for the North Eastern States with necessary resources, knowledge and skill to execute innovative and strategic vision for the region.
Addressing a combined meeting of the senior officers of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) and NEC here, Singh said this will be in keeping with the changing times and the vision of PM Narendra Modi laid down by him during his visit to Shillong to attend the NEC Plenary meeting in May 2016, according to a PIB release.
Singh said the NEC was set up in early 1970s with the intention to give special focus to the development of this region. However, he said, much has changed since then and with the setting up of an exclusive and separate Ministry of DoNER in 2004 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, there has been overlapping of functioning of the two institutions sometimes . Therefore, he said, the NEC requires to be reshaped after the identification of thrust areas and critical gaps to take up as many development initiatives as possible within the annual budgetary allocations, according to the PIB release.
During the last three years, Singh said, the budgetary allocations for both Ministry of DoNER and NEC has been increased. Moreover, the execution of the various development works has been expedited and in about last two years, the spending of funds has been increased by 65% to 70%. This has happened partly because of bringing in the ease in procedures as well as by using the modern technology for submission of DPRs and utilisation certificates through space satellites and other means, he added.