NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday announced the formation of the North Eastern Tourism Development Council (NETDC) on a public-private partnership mode under the Ministry of DoNER to boost tourism in the region.
The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jitendra Singh, said this was for the first time that a separate tourism development agency devoted to a particular region was set up.
The exclusive Council “is also a reflection of the high priority that the Union Government accords to the development of the peripheral States of the region”, the Minister added.
Singh had recently pointed out that the North East was attracting more foreign tourists than domestic despite the region having natural abundance.
The Union Minister said the Council is yet another addition to the several new initiatives in the North East.
“There are other major sector-specific steps like setting up of a ‘Venture Fund’ and Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Centre for Policy Research and Analysis at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong,” he said.
The Venture Fund will provide initial capital assistance to young entrepreneurs or start-ups in the northeastern region.
The Centre for Policy Research will provide in-depth inputs for the region.
Besides, the North-East Road Sector Development Scheme was also taken up by the Centre. The scheme is a region-based road development programme for maintenance, construction and upgradation of roads in the region.
Many roads in the region remain neglected because of low priority or being interconnecting roads between two States remain “orphan roads”.
Singh released the 2017 Calendar of the North Eastern Council here on Friday. The calendar has the theme of “seasonal fruits”.
