Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein has placed proposals of the state government before the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to be considered and incorporated in the Union Budget 2017-18.
Mein, who also holds the finance portfolio in Arunachal cabinet, yesterday attended the pre-budget meeting chaired by the Union Finance Minister in New Delhi. The meeting was also attended by Union Ministers of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar and Arjun Ram Meghwal.
In the meeting, Mein placed the state govt proposal for railway connectivity along the foothills of the state to facilitate smooth movement of people and transportation of goods, an official release said here.
He also placed proposal of 430 km long double lane east-west highway along the foothills at a total cost of Rs 5244 crore.
The deputy CM informed that the proposal had already been submitted to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways by the state government.
“The strategically located border state of Arunachal Pradesh is lagging behind on the path of development and the biggest challenge before the state is to ensure robust connectivity,” Mein told Jaitley, the release said.
He also placed proposal for construction of a 1841 km long frontier highway which would run parallel to Trans Arunachal Highway and would ensure connectivity for the remote habitations along the China and Myanmar border.
“It is equally important to connect the upper reaches of border areas as the villagers are migrating towards urban settlement, leaving the border areas vulnerable and uninhabited due to absence of good connectivity,” Mein pointed out.
He informed the union minister that the state government had prepared a blueprint of the proposed frontier highway and requested him to place the proposal on priority in the union budget, the release informed.
At the state Finance Miisters’ interaction with Jaitley, the Arunachal Deputy CM also sought financial help from the Centre for massive investment push, world class infrastructure development and global branding campaign to showcase the beauty of this part of India to rest of the world, the release said.
Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Governor V Shanmuganathan and CM Pema Khandu extended their warm greetings to the people of the state on the auspicious occasion of Si Donyi, the most important festival of the Tagin tribe. (PTI)
