The government of India’s policy think-tank NITI Aayog today announced to hold the first meeting of a newly constituted ‘NITI Forum for North East’ on Tuesday (10, April) in Agartala, Tripura under the theme “Moving towards a prosperous North East Region”.
The Forum was constituted in February this year with an aim to ensure the sustainable economic growth of country’s Northeast region, and periodically review the development status.
According to an official release, the meeting will be chaired by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajeev Kumar, Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) co-Minister of State (Independent Charge) Jitendra Singh, and Chief Ministers of North East states along with leading lights from the region will attend.
The broad agendas for the First Meeting include:
- Strategies for improving Road, Rail and Air Connectivity in the Northeast Region
- Realizing the Hydel Dream – Way Forward for utilizing existing potential for hydro-power in the NER
- Agriculture and allied sectors
? Encourage Organic Farming in the NE states
? Cultivation of Vegetables, fruits, Spices, medicinal plants
? Soil Health Card for farmers
? Minimizing post-harvest losses
? Increased coverage under Crop Insurance
? Milk production to be boosted - Water Management
? Early completion of ongoing irrigation projects - Promotion of Tourism
? Promotion of Eco-Tourism, Rural Tourism and Adventure Tourism
? Strengthening of North East Tourism Development Council (NETDC)
? Organically-themed Home-Stay Tourism (as in Sikkim) may be encouraged in the other NE States
? The NETDC to work closely with the NE States for tourism promotion - Identifying and targeting early bird projects in areas of connectivity, agricultural productivity and industrial development to give a fillip to the growth in NER.
According to the statement, the secretariat for the Forum has been established in the DoNER Ministry. The Forum includes representation from all NE States, their Chief Secretaries and Secretaries of relevant Central Ministries/Departments, Directors of reputed institutions (IIT, IIM etc), experts and journalists have been included as members.
