SHILLONG: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone, and inaugurated and dedicated to the nation multiple projects worth over Rs 2450 crore in Shillong on Sunday. Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister attended the meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) at the State Convention Centre in Shillong and participated in its golden jubilee celebrations.
The multiple projects include the inauguration of 320 completed and 890 under construction 4G mobile towers, the new campus of IIM Shillong, at Umsawli, the Shillong - Diengpasoh Road which will provide better connectivity to new Shillong satellite township and four other roads projects across the three states viz. Meghalaya, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The Prime Minister also inaugurated Spawn Laboratory at Mushroom Development Centre and Integrated Beekeeping Development Centre in Meghalaya and 21 Hindi libraries in Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura and Assam. The Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of six road projects across the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura. He also laid the foundation stone of the Integrated Hospitality and Convention Centre at Tura and Shillong Technology Park Phase-II.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister remarked that Meghalaya is a state that is prosperous in nature and culture and this very prosperity is reflected through the warmth and welcoming nature of the people. He congratulated the citizens of Meghalaya for the numerous upcoming and newly-inaugurated projects ranging from connectivity, education, skill and employment for further development in the state.
Stressing the development of sports in the region, the Prime Minister said that the Central Government was moving forward with a new approach and its benefits could be clearly seen in the north-eastern region as well. He informed that apart from India's first sports university, the north-eastern region was well equipped with multiple infrastructures like multipurpose hall, football field and athletics track. He further added that work was underway on 90 such projects.
The Prime Minister drew everyone's attention to the connectivity projects that were inaugurated on Sunday and informed that Rs 5,000 crore had been spent on the construction of the National Highway in Meghalaya in the last 8 years while the number of rural roads built in the last 8 years under the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana in Meghalaya was seven times more than what was built in the previous 20 years.
The Prime Minister gave the example of the Parvatmala Scheme which is building a network of ropeways and the PM PM-DevINE scheme which is going to give a new impetus to the development of the Northeast by ensuring easy approval of big development projects. He added, "A budget of Rs 6,000 crore has been fixed for the next 3-4 years under PM-DevINE."
Speaking about the needlessness for AFSPA in the Northeast, the Prime Minister remarked that the conditions were constantly improving with the help of the state governments while boundary disputes between the states which were going on for decades are being resolved.
Highlighting the politics of peace and development adopted by the government, the Prime Minister said that the biggest beneficiary of this was the tribal society. "The development of tribal areas is the priority of the government while maintaining the tradition, language and culture of the tribal society," he said. Giving the example of abolishing the ban on bamboo harvesting, the Prime Minister informed that it gave impetus to the manufacture of tribal products associated with bamboo.
Concluding his address, the Prime Minister wished for continued pace of the region's development and credited the blessing of the people as the base of all energy that is being put into the development of the Northeast.
Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad K Sangama, Governor of Meghalaya, Brig (Dr) B D Mishra (Retd), Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Ministers G Kishan Reddy, Kiren Rijiju and Sarbanada Sonowal, Union Minister of State, B L Verma, Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh, Chief Minister of Mizoram, Zoramthanga, Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, Chief Minister of Nagaland, Neiphiu Rio, Chief Minister of Sikkim, Prem Singh Tamang, Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu and Chief Minister of Tripura, Manik Saha were those present on occasion, stated a PIB press release.
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