First meeting of newly-constituted ‘NITI Forum for Northeast’ will be held in Agartala on Tuesday. To be chaired by NITI Aayog vice-chairman Rajeev Kumar and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) minister Jitendra Singh, chief ministers of the North-eastern States and leading lights from the region will attend the deliberations. This was stated by Kumar and Singh at a press conference in New Delhi on Monday prior to their departure for Agartala.
Emphasising the need to identify constraints, streamline resources and add renewed focus on the region, the minister and vice-chairman spoke about moving towards a prosperous North-eastern region, which would be the theme of the first meeting.
The broad agendas of the meeting include, among others, strategies for improving road, rail and air connectivity in the region, realising the hydel dream – way forward for utilising existing potential for hydro-power, agriculture and allied sectors, water management, promotion of tourism, identifying and targeting early bird projects in areas of connectivity, agricultural productivity and industrial development to give fillip to growth.
NITI Forum for Northeast was constituted in February 2018 with an aim to ensure sustainable economic growth of the region and periodically review development status.
The secretariat of the Forum has been set up in DoNER Ministry. The Forum has representation from all North-eastern States, their chief secretaries and secretaries of relevant Central ministries and departments, directors of reputed institutions (IIT, IIM, etc) and experts. Even journalists have been included as its members.
Rio in Tripura to attend Niti meet
Nagaland chief minister, Neiphiu Rio, who is in Tripura to attend the first meeting of Niti Forum for the North East, said he looked forward to deliberations on Tuesday.
In his tweet, Rio also said he was happy to meet chief minister of Tripura, Biplab Kumar Deb, on arrival in Agartala. Rio said he discussed ways and means to improve the quality of life for people of the North East.
Meanwhile, Tripura chief minister, Biplab Kumar Deb, organised a cultural evening at Raj Bhavan Agartala to welcome Rio and Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma.