Northeast has the finest ethno-cultural mosaic: Governor

Imphal, Apr 12 (UNI) Manipur Governor Dr S S Sidhu has said the North East Region has the finest ethno-cultural mosaic in the world.

Manipur Information Centre officials here today said, ''The Governor was speaking on 'Investing in the North East: The Crucial Question of Air Connectivity' in the Plenary Session 2 of the 3rd North East Business Summit held in New Delhi recently.

The region has tropical vegetation, exquisite scenic beauty, unexploited resources, rich bio-diversity, rare varieties of flora and fauna, distinctive cultural identity and rich heritage, he said.

The Governor, further described the region led by Manipur as the 'Power House' of Indian sports.

He also mentioned that reasonably high standard of salubrious climate, strong tradition of self-governance at village level particularly among hilly people and huge potential for trade and related services with 'Look East Policy' are among the assets and strengths on the region.

Dr Sidhu stated that insurgency in varying degree prevails in four states of the region excluding Sikkim, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. 25 lakh youths in the North East are unemployed, he added.

He said the region has poor infrastructure in terms of communication, road transport and power.

Dr Sidhu said the region, at present, has 12 operational airports at Agartala, Aizwal, Baghdogra, Dibrugarh, Dimapur, Guwahati, Imphal, Jorhat, Lilabari, Shillong, Silchar and Tezpur.

Airports that can quickly become operational with limited repairs are at Kamalpur, Along, Daporizo, Ziro and Tura.

Six airports at Rupsi, Shella, Kailashahar, Khowai, Passighat and Tezu can become operational with Dornier type aircraft after strengthening of runway and extensive repair.

Green field airports are to be developed on priority to serve the capitals of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim, he further said.

He also mentioned that the Committee appointed by the Ministry of DoNER posed two models for development of air connectivity in the region.

They are Public Private Partnership models joint venture airline allowing the private operator majority share holding of 74 per cent and North Eastern Council to hold 26 per cent stake, and Reverse Bidding Agreement (minimum subsidy route).

UNI