56th NEC plenary session begins in Agartala today

Agartala, May 12 : The 56th Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) commenced on Monday at Prajna Bhavan here. The two-day meet is expected to approve the 'Vision 2020' for overall development of the region.

The meeting is crucial as it may decide the fate of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).

Though the theme of the meeting is 'Poverty Eradication', but it started with a discussion on the budgetary allocation for the Northeastern state.

Representatives from all eight states proposed for more fund from the Centre for the development of the region.

The papers formulated in the plenary would also chalk out the course of development actions for the next 12 years.

Secretary of NEC Falguni Rajkumar in his address criticized the centre for inadequate and late funding. He also discussed in threadbare the NEC agenda including the 'Vision 2020'.

Union Minister of DoNER Mani Shankar Aiyer, Governors of all eight states, Chief Ministers of Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur are attending the regional meet. Chief Secretaries of the states, officials of the DoNER and the NEC are also attending the meet.

Chief Ministers of Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim could not attend owing to their important engagements.

Prelude to the opening session the dignitaries offered floral tribute to the bust of country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Matters relating to infrastructure development, power, road communication, tourism, Air and rail connectivity, information technology and human resource development are high on the agenda.

The plenary would also review the implementation of the resolutions previous meetings.

As many as 150 delegates are likely to attend the meet. By Pinaki Das

ANI