Rajnath assures protection to Northeast students

Dimapur, Sep. 9 (EMN): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has assured to protect the students from the Northeastern states studying in New Delhi against any form of discrimination and harassment, adding that his door would always remain open for them.

The Union minister said this in his address during the Northeast Students Festival 2018, organised by My Home India (MHI) at Talkatora Stadium in New Delhi on Sep. 8. The event was held to welcome new students from the Northeast living in and around Delhi.

The zonal in-charge for MHI activities in Northeast, Mrinmoy Sinha told Eastern Mirror over phone that the ‘Nest Fest 2018’ was inaugurated by the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday. The fest had the attendance of Union Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan; Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb; minister of state for Civil Aviation, Dr. Jayant Sinha; secretary of the North Eastern Council, Ram Muivah; and the founder of MHI, Sunil V Deodhar.

In his address, Singh echoed that Northeast is the heart of India and without developing the Northeast states, the all-round growth of India would not be possible. He recalled former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, during whose tenure the Ministry of DoNER was constituted for the development of the Northeast region.

While lauding the role of MHI for its activities in nation building, Singh assured the Northeast students against any problems saying his door will always remain open for them.

Mentioning the names of young sports personalities like Hima Das and Dipa Karmakar among others, the union minister added that Northeast is filled with talents which need to be explored.

The minister further said that the present PM, through his Act East Policy, has prioritised development of the eight Northeastern states and declared as ‘Ashta Lakshmi.’

The MoS of Civil Aviation, Jayanta Sinha, said the present government at the centre is emphasising on better infrastructure and connectivity of the Northeastern region which is necessary for the development. He revealed that various airports would be coming up in the NE region. He also mentioned about the UDAN project, which aims at air connectivity of all the NE states with the other states of India.

The event witnessed performances from Naga musician, Alobo Naga; Sourabhee Debbarma, a singer from Tripura and the first female Indian Idol winner in 2009; Zubeen Garg, a singer, composer, songwriter, music producer, film director, philanthropist, film producer, and actor from Assam.