Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday inaugurated the "Destination North East-2020" through video conferencing and said that the Northeast region will can emerge as a major centre of world tourism and business destinations of India.
“North East, rich in natural beauty, folk culture and art, is fully capable of becoming a major centre of world tourism… and the NE region will emerge as one of the favourite tourism and business destinations of India,” Amit Shah, who is also chairman of the North-East Council, said on the occasion.
Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Development (I/C), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pension, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh and chief ministers of the eight North Eastern states were also present at the video conferencing.
The ‘Destination North East-2020' which began on Sunday will run till September 30. It is a calendar event of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region conceptualized with the objective of taking the Northeast region to other parts of the country and bringing them closer together in order to strengthen national integration. For Destination North East 2020, the theme is “The Emerging Delightful Destinations” which speaks of the tourism destinations emerging stronger and more attractive when the sector picks up momentum.
The four-day event aims to introduce various cultures of the country to each other along with the tourist destinations of the Northeast and through this the whole of India will also get familiar with the vibrant and diverse culture of the Northeast, Amit Shah said.
The minister also said, “The beauty of the Northeast is unparalleled. Northeast is the jewel of India; without it the Indian culture is incomplete”.
While inviting the next ceremony to be held in his constituency Gandhinagar, Amit Shah said that “this will make the people of Northeast familiar with the culture of Gujarat and the people of Gujarat will be introduced to the culture of the Northeast”.
Chief ministers of all eight North-Eastern states were present at the video conferencing. Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region Development (I/C), Prime Minister's Office, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pension, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh also attended it.
Amit Shah also said, “Peace in the Northeast is very important for the economic development, promotion of tourism and employment in the region. The Northeast, which was once in the news due to terrorism, blockade, violence but now it is known for development, tourism, organic farming, industry and start-ups”.
The minister said a lot of work has been done to establish peace in the Northeast under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, such as the Land Border Agreement with Bangladesh, Manipur Blockade, Bodo Agreement and the surrender by 641 cadres of eight militant groups.
Amit Shah also pointed out that the 14th Finance Commission increased the allocation for the Northeast by 251 per cent to Rs 3,13,375 crore. The Central government has decided to spend 21 per cent of the budget of the Northeast Council on backward districts, villages and deprived communities, he said.
The home minister said, “Six railway projects worth Rs 15,088 crore have been completed. Also, Rs 553 crore will be spent on the development of airports and about Rs 10,000 crore on 19 road projects of 869 km length”. He said that “during the Corona era, the Modi government has provided all health facilities to the people of Northeast, including medicines and treatment through teleconference by AIIMS doctors”.
Amit Shah also said that “during this time the government provided 7.7 lakh metric tons of food grains to 3.09 crore people. Also, Rs 533 crore under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and Rs 1,707 crore under Jan Dhan Yojana were directly deposited in the bank accounts of poor people.
The Union Home Minister called for making the Northeast a tourism and industry hub and an IT and organic farming hub to increase the Northeast's participation in the country's GDP by 2024 and make it an important part of the Government of India's Act East policy.
The four-day programme will feature Audio Visual presentation of the tourist spots of the states and the region, messages from state icons and achievers, introduction to prominent local entrepreneurs and virtual exhibition of handicraft and traditional fashion and local products. There will be special messages from the state chief ministers and tourism ministers as well as cultural items of individual states and medley performances combining cultures of all the eight states.
