Centre working to transform Northeast into growth hub — Shekhawat

Guwahati, Sep. 17 (PTI): Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Friday said the central government wanted to turn the North East into a “growth hub”.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is to strengthen the Northeastern region by ensuring timely progress in projects being implemented by central ministries, Shekhawat told reporters after visiting the North Eastern Regional Institute of Water and Land Management (NERIWALM) in Tezpur, Assam.

”The government’s perspective is to kick start development in all the eight Northeast states and make it a growth hub to take the entire nation forward. The PM has initiated the practice of reviewing the progress of schemes and projects in the region and so the Union ministers visit frequently to review the work of their respective ministries, he said.

During the meeting at NERIWALM, the work of all organisations under the Jal Shakti Ministry was reviewed.

Shekhawat was accompanied by the Assam minister of Housing, Urban Affairs and Irrigation Ashok Singhal to Tezpur, an official release said here.

Shekhawat said that he had a marathon 12-hour meeting with the ministers and stakeholders of all the eight States regarding water conservation and discussed the other concerns at length.

The Union minister on Thursday chaired a one-day conference of Public Health Engineering department (PHED) ministers of Northeastern states on Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Guwahati with Assam Chief Minister. Himanta Biswa Sarma and PHED ministers of these states.

The centre has allocated INR 9,800 crore as central grant for these states under Jal Jeevan Mission and this enhanced amount will provide tap water connections to households which in turn is expected to boost the development of the region, the release added.