GUWAHATI, Sept 17: The Centre is committed to bring the Northeastern states to the fore and ensure development in the region, reiterated Union minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat while addressing mediapersons in Tezpur on Friday.
“The government of India is working to ensure development in this part of the country. With Northeast in the fore, the idea is to take the entire nation forward. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a vision to strengthen the Northeastern region by ensuring progress in the projects implemented by all the ministries,” Shekhawat said.
“The Prime Minister has initiated to review the progress of schemes and projects in the North-eastern states and therefore the Union Ministers visit the region frequently to review the work of their respective ministries,” the minister said adding that the aim is to make Northeast the growth hub.
Shekhawat visited the North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM) and held a meeting with its director and other officials.
“Here at NERIWALM, we got the opportunity to review the work of all the organisations working under the Jal Shakti ministry,” he said.
Assam minister of housing, urban affairs and irrigation, Ashok Singhal also accompanied the Union minister to Tezpur.
Shekhawat informed that he had a 12-hour meeting with the ministers and stakeholders of all the eight Northeast states regarding water conservation, cleanliness, etc and discussed the concerns at length.
Shekhawat had chaired a day-long conference of the public health engineering department (PHED) ministers of North-eastern states on Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Guwahati on Thursday.
The Union government has allocated Rs 9,800 crore as central grant for North-eastern states under Jal Jeevan Mission.
This enhanced allocation to provide tap water connections to households in the Northeast states is expected to accelerate development in the region.