GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 167
TO BE ANSWERED ON 17/11/2016
QUESTION
Revival of North Eastern Council
167. DR. VINAY P. SAHASRABUDDHE:
Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased to state:
(a) the major steps taken by the Ministry to revive the North Eastern Council (NEC) during the last two years and what is the impact of these efforts;
(b) what has been the response of the State Governments of North East Region to these efforts; and
(c) the future plans of further strengthening and making effective the functioning of the NEC and what are the difficulties that Government might be facing in this
regard?
ANSWER
The Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region
(Dr. Jitendra singh)
(a) to (c) North Eastern Council (NEC) is a statutory regional planning body in which the members are Hon’ble Governors and Chief Ministers of all eight States in the North Eastern Region. Meetings of NEC are held at regular intervals.
In the 65th Plenary meeting of the NEC held on 26-27 May, 2016, proposals focussing on the thrust areas- viz. the tourism sector through setting up of North East Tourism Development Corporation (NETDC);
and agri-horticulture sector through a scheme for farmers in getting remunerative prices were approved. During the Plenary Session, the Hon’ble Governors and Chief Ministers supported the new initiatives taken by the NEC. In
addition to the annual allocation, an amount of Rs.150 crore has been released to NEC during the current financial year for construction of inter-State roads. Action has been initiated for developing NEC as a state-of-the-art Resource
Centre. On 15th October, 2016, an MoU was signed with Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong and the “APJ Abdul Kalam Centr e for Policy Research & Analysis” has been inaugurated. The shortage
of technical manpower within NEC, Shillong is being addressed through a network of academic and research institutions located in various States in the North Eastern Region.
