DoNER Minister Dr Jitendra Singh assures support to Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma

A CORRESPONDENT

SHILLONG: Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Conrad Sangma on Tuesday met Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Dr Jitendra Singh and thanked him for constant support to the State projects by the Ministry of DoNER.Sangma made a special mention of the recent road project sanctioned under North East Special Development Scheme for upgradation of the Mawshynrut-Hahim-Boko Road. Dr Singh also told the Chief Minister that Prime Minister Narendra Modi takes personal interest in following up all the issues related to the north-eastern States.

Following the Prime Minister's instructions, he said, special impetus is being given to improve the connectivity and transport through new airports, air flights in different sectors, double-gauge railway lines across the region, networks of roads and new inland waterways. As for the State of Meghalaya, Dr Singh noted the recent introduction of direct air flight from Shillong to Delhi. He said, this was a long-pending requirement; and Shillong, being a popular tourist destination as well as the original capital of the erstwhile Assam, richly deserved this facility. Similarly, the DoNER Minister recalled that when the Modi government came to power in 2014, many people in Meghalaya had never seen a train in their lifetime."Today an ambitious project to lay double track has been undertaken in the region," he said. The Meghalaya Chief Minister informed the DoNER Minister that the tourist spots in Meghalaya have started receiving visitors from all over the world and the country in huge numbers.

To this, Dr. Singh responded by saying that he is confident that this year is going to be a boon for the region because many of the regular holidaymakers who followed the annual routine of visiting the European destinations, will now find a parallel option in Shillong and other similar destinations. This is because many of the European holiday resorts were badly affected by the COVID pandemic, however, the tourist resorts in Northeast remained mostly free of the pandemic, he pointed out.

The Chief Minister also appreciated the manner in which the DoNER Ministry has been forthcoming to address the priorities of the north-eastern States. The issue of allocation of funds in new projects with Central assistance also came up for discussion. Sangma also placed some new proposals before the Minister for support from the Ministry of DoNER and the North Eastern Council (NEC). The Union Minister assured the Chief Minister that he would have these proposals examined.

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