A group of students from Arunachal Pradesh called on the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh here today.

Addressing the students, Dr Jitendra Singh said that North East is on the priority of the Government led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. Highlighting various initiatives for the North East India, he said that Government has taken various steps to promote the rail, road and air connectivity in North East. He said that construction of new airport at Itanagar will begin soon. He also said that the second Film and Training Institute of India (FTII) will be set up in Arunachal Pradesh, the first being in Pune, Maharashtra. He also said that region-based road development scheme for NE region namely “North-East Road Sector Development Scheme” (NERSDS) has also been started for maintenance, construction and upgradation of such roads, which remain neglected because of being interconnecting roads between two States as a result of which they remain un-owned and had thus gained the dubious distinction of being described as “orphan roads”.

The Minister said that priority is also being given to promote tourism in the North eastern states. Speaking on the ‘Act East Policy’ of the Government, he said that North East region shares similarity with neighbouring countries in terms of culture, lifestyle and food habits. He said that, keeping this fact in mind, the NE states should focus on manufacturing such products that will find market in these places and promote trade in North eastern states.

Highlighting various youth-centric initiatives taken by the Ministry of Development of North East Region (DoNER), the Minister said that foundation stone has been laid for the Barak hostel for students from North East in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus in Delhi and a Hostel exclusively for Northeast girl students in Bengaluru. He said that a North Eastern Cultural and Information Centre will soon be set up in Dwarka, New Delhi.

On the occasion, the Arunachal Pradesh youth also gifted Dr Jitendra Singh clay idols made by them on the lines of ‘Make in India’ programme of Government of India. The Minister congratulated the youth for this unique initiative of promoting indigenous manufacturing and promoting ‘Make in India’ flagship programme of the Government which aims at providing employment opportunities to youth of the country. He also appealed to the youth to make efforts in the direction of indigenous manufacturing that will help boost economy and provide them employability.

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