GUWAHATI: Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, General (Retd) V.K Singh on Tuesday reaffirmed that the Union Government is giving prime importance to the development of North East Region (NER) by focusing on issues related to connectivity.
Addressing the opening ceremony of the India-Bangladesh Stakeholders’ Meet here he asserted that this meet would further strengthen the cross border trade between the two countries.
He further said that the Border Haats can play an instrumental role in strengthening economic ties between India and Bangladesh in general and Bangladesh and North East in particular.
“These border markets have been envisaged by India and Bangladesh as an instrument primarily to generate livelihood for people at the border areas of the two countries, ” he said informing that a multi-modal transportation hub is coming up at Jogighopa.
“A few decades back it was Vajpayeeji who conceived the East-West Corridor which connected the North East to the rest of the country through four-lane expressway, and the PMGSY which revolutionised the rural India by linking disparate villages across the length and breadth of the country by black topped roads. This in a way started the integration process with the rest of the country.
“Now in the last 5 years, our present Prime Minister – in addition to the Act East Policy – has given tremendous stress on the development of multi-modal connectivity. He has cited the development of HIRA — Highways, Internet ways, Railways and Airways. Now a fifth component has been added to upgrade HIRA to Panchapath. It is the long-neglected sector of Inland Waterways. Assam and the North East are blessed with a plethora of rivers, rivulets and water-bodies. And it is so much cheaper to transport goods through the waterways. Therefore, around 15 National Waterways have been declared in Assam itself,” Singh added.
“Realising the potential of the North Eastern Region Government of India has outlined five specific development missions to promote sectors such as horticulture, tourism and food processing in the region. The value chain potential of NER with Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries and rest of India in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, processed food, engineering, automobiles, garments, pharmaceuticals, etc., has been identified by the Government of India.  Assam Government’s initiative to reopen the railway links with Bangladesh, for example, Chittagong to Makum, can play an instrumental role,” he said.