GUWAHATI: Union home minister, Amit Shah will chair the plenary meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here on August 3 and 4.
This was disclosed by DoNER minister, Jitendra Singh while releasing the third issue of newsletter of NEC on Tuesday in the presence of NEC secretary, Ram Muivah and DoNER secretary, Inder Jit Singh.
The first plenary meeting of the restructured NEC (67th plenary since inception) was held in Shillong in July, 2018.
The NEC newsletter highlighted some of the initiatives taken by the council during July, 2018 to March, 2019.
Singh complimented the officers and staff of the DoNER ministry and NEC for their efforts to improve the living condition of North Eastern States of the country.
He said the newly sworn-in government is committed to continue with the legacy of the development efforts of the last five years and work in the direction of improving infrastructure and living standards of the people of Northeast.
In July, 2018, the NEC was restructured through the nomination of the home minister as chairman, NEC and minister of state (incharge) DoNER as vice-chairman, NEC. The restructuring was undertaken with a view to have a forum to discuss issues such as boundary disputes, drug trafficking, smuggling of arms and ammunition, et al.
The North Eastern Council (NEC) was established by North Eastern Council Act, 1971 initially as apex level advisory body for securing balanced and coordinated development and facilitating effective co-ordination amongst seven States of North Eastern Region.
Over the last forty-seven years, NEC has been instrumental in setting up various iconic institutes in the region.
Since its inception, the council has focused on improving connectivity of the region with a total of 10,911 km of roads constructed with NEC funding and handed over to the states for maintenance.
NEC has till date supported the installation of 694.5 MW power plants and construction of 9202 circuit km of transmission and distribution lines.
The council has also undertaken development work in various sectors like education, healthcare, agriculture, horticulture, tourism, industries, etc, an official statement issued here said.
