NEC to finalise road map for NE states

Agartala, May 12 (UNI) The North Eastern Council (NEC) has announced to finalise the development plan for the NE region which had been proposed in the document Vision 2020.

Talking to UNI here today, NEC Planning Advisor P S Thankui said the Plenary session would finalise a poverty alleviation programme for the region and NEC's annual plan for the fiscal 2008-09.

The Vision 2020 had placed plans for improvement of roads, railways, airways, inland waterways, telecommunication, agriculture and allied sectors, power, health, education, information technology, human resource and tourism in the NE region.

Mr Thankui pointed out that NEC, a 37-year-old regional planning body for the NE, had earlier entrusted the task of preparing a draft of the document to the New Delhi-based National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and it came out with a specific programme during the 11th, 12th and first three years of the 13th Five Year Plan.

''The objective of the document was to ensure that people receive adequate food, clothing, and shelter and that every family is free from hunger, leads a healthy life and participates productively in the growth process to achieve a high level of human development, particularly in education and health,'' he said.

Meanwhile, sources at the DoNER Ministry said poor connectivity was one of the major impediments to the development of tourism in the NE region and therefore the Centre had been planning to invest about Rs 50,000 crore in improving connectivity in the region in the next five years.

The DoNER Ministry also decided to hold dialogues with the Ministry of External Affairs and other concerned Ministries to address issues like opportunities and challenges in attracting tourists from abroad to the NE states, Mr Thankui added.

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