PM promises infrastructurally connected North-East

Guwahati, Aug 25 (UNI) Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today promised a complete ''infrastructurally connected North-East'' by the end of the Plan period, but urged the civil society to persuade the militant organisations to give up insurgency to bring stability in the region.

He laid the foundation of the fourth medical colleges of Assam at Jorhat and assured that there would be bigger infrastructure coming up for the region.

Tomorrow he would lay the foundation of a new university at Kokrajhar besides paying a visit to IIT Guwahati. He promised to return again to the region to inaugurate the railway line from Agartala.

The Assam Government, meanwhile, taking the opportunity urged him to talk to Bangladesh to demarcate the unresolved international boundary portion of Karimganj besides demanding riverine policing to check infiltration.

Dr Singh was supposed to address a public rally at Nagaon, but bad weather did not allow his chopper to land. But his speech was read out.

In his speech, he said, '' The continued activities of insurgent groups create a climate of fear and insecurity not conducive to rapid economic development and new investment in Assam and other North Eastern States. It is, therefore, essential for all citizens of Assam to use their collective wisdom to persuade the ULFA to give up the path of insurgency and confrontation. '' '' I have said on a number of occasions that power in a democracy flows from the ballot rather than from the bullet and that all grievances of the people of Assam can be addressed effectively in our democratic polity. I, therefore, call upon the ULFA to join the national mainstream and work with all of us for rapid social and economic development of Assam, '' he iterated.

Earlier, Dr Singh had expressed concern over the regional imbalances in the medical infrastructures and called for immediate augmentation of the medical educational facility all over the country.

Calling upon both the state government and Centre he pointed out that there was a large number of shortage of doctors and the present numbers of medical institutions could not meet the growing demand.

Laying the foundation of a new medical college at Jorhat, the fourth in Assam, the Prime Minister called upon the Medical Council of India(MCI) to take serious note of the largescale shortage of doctors and paramedics in the country.

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