(LiveMint)
The Union cabinet on Wednesday approved the nomination of the home minister as the ex-officio chairman of the North Eastern Council (NEC). The NEC is an apex regional planning body and comprises governors and chief ministers of all the eight northeastern states as its members.
The cabinet also approved that minister of state (Independent Charge) for the ministry of development of north-eastern region (DoNER) would serve as vice chairman of the council. The development comes in the backdrop of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government pushing the economic agenda in these strategically located states, especially with respect to the long-pending infrastructure projects.
“This repositioning of NEC will help it to become a more effective body for the North Eastern Region,” the government said in a statement. Developing the Northeast has been a key priority for successive governments. The cabinet’s decision comes at a time when Japan has joined hands with India to aggressively develop infrastructure projects in the northeastern states.
