Need to dispel myth that entire North East is disturbed: President

New Delhi, Sept 17 : In her concluding address at the two-day Conference of Governors today at Rashtrapati Bhavan, President Pratibha Devisingh Patil said that there is a need for everyone to consciously dispel the myth that the entire North East is a disturbed region.

Patil said that there is a downswing in insurgency in some states of this region and such trends need to be encouraged.

"Efforts should be made to build on the core strengths of these states," she added. "These positive developments need wider publicity so that they can help attract further investments to accelerate economic activities," said Patil, and added, "At the same time, we have to speedily find a workable solution for those States where insurgency has acquired near endemic proportions."

Referring to Article 371 in the sixth Schedule of the Constitution, the President said, this article casts a special responsibility on the Governors for providing peace, good government and promotion of the welfare and advancement of the people.

She urged all the Governors of the North East states to individually introspect how far the governance mechanism in their State has fulfilled the aims and aspirations of the locals and what more needs to be done in this respect.

The President also referred to the issues in the fifth Schedule with regard to the states of North East and asked the Governors of these states to ponder over them in consultation with their respective State Governments.

ANI