Assam most preferred destination: DoNER Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh

STARTUP INDIA SCHEME

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: DoNER Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh on Monday claimed that the North East has become the most preferred destination for the Startup India scheme.

Delivering the keynote address at the inauguration of the three-day-long Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Conclave-2020 in the Assam Administrative Staff College here on Monday evening, Dr Singh said his Ministry is elated at receiving proposals from young entrepreneurs from States like Gujarat and Karnataka to undertake ventures in the North East under the Startup India scheme. He further stated that the NE region has not only become the preferred destination but also turned out to be the supplier of raw materials and various other resources to execute the startup schemes in other parts of the country.

Singh added that when the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, the North East was making headlines mainly for the wrong reasons. He claimed that the region in the last six years has been making news of development and transformation.

“The population of the entire North East constitutes only 3 to 4 percent of India’s total population. Going by the political equation, the region does not contribute much power politics in Delhi. But the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone beyond politics and tried to do justice to the region which it did not receive during the previous regimes at the Centre,” Dr Singh said.

The Minister added the Centre’s budgetary allocation for the North East has been increasing since 2014. He also assured that the DoNER Ministry will take up the issue of proper utilization of 10 per cent funds earmarked by all Ministries for development of NE. “If some Ministries are not having enough schemes, they should divert the funds to the DoNER Ministry,” he said.

The SDG Conclave is being organized by the Niti Aayog in association with the North Eastern Council (NEC), Assam Government, Tata Trusts, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS).

Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar said the North East will play a crucial and critical role in achieving India’s SDG targets by 2020. He said there is an urgent need to mainstream NE for success of SDG targets of the country.

“The world is watching India to successfully achieve SDG. If we fail, the world might also fail. So, that is the significance of SDG targets,” Dr Kumar said. He urged all the NE States to set up SDG monitoring units.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, while speaking at the function, thanked the Niti Aayog for organizing the SDG Conclave in Guwahati. He urged the Niti Aayog to set up an office in Guwahati to carry forward its development more forcefully and effectively.

Chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura namely Pema Khandu, Zoramthanga, Prem Singh Tamang and Biplab Kumar Deb spoke on the occasion highlighting their SDG plans for future. While the CEO of Niti Aayog, Amitabh Kant delivered the inaugural address, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma extended the welcome address at the Conclave.

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