DIMAPUR, June 3 - Nagaland Governor PB Acharya has urged the North Eastern Council (NEC) to consider the proposal of remaining the Council as NAMASTE as this acronym includes the names of all the Northeastern States of the country.
Acharya also requested the NEC to bring into its ambit the promotion of organic farming in the region and brand �Make in North East�. In this regard, he suggested that NEC draw up a suitable scheme to emulate the success of Sikkim in the field of organic farming, a Raj Bhavan release said on Friday.
Addressing the 66th Plenary of NEC in New Delhi, he said NEC as a forum has been a significant and effective platform for discussing and deliberating upon the developmental issues of the region since 1971.
The Governor felt that to put in practice the Act East Policy, the Regional Plan of NEC has identified only flight connectivity and stated that besides air connectivity, road and rail connection between India and South East Asian countries are equally important.
While calling for taking advantage of the opportunity of the India-Japan strategic partnership, he opined that we should embrace the interest shown by Japan and hence urged NEC and DoNER Ministry to work out modalities to avail such investment offers.
Acharya also briefed the Council on the initiatives undertaken by him towards preservation and protection of indigenous tribal culture, tribal scripts, rituals and identity.
Informing the meeting on setting up of a Medical College in Nagaland, the Governor said the State Government has acquired 40.251 acres of land near Kohima for the project. He said the Union Ministry of Health & FW under the scheme Upgradation of District Hospital to New Medical College has approved one time grant of Rs 189 crore. The Centre has already released Rs 52.50 crore and construction works have started, he added.
The Governor also appreciated the Centre for allowing Air India and Indigo flights from Dimapur to Delhi via Kolkata. However, he urged Air India to operate flights seven days a week from Dimapur to Delhi from the present six days. He also said currently, there are no flights from Dimapur connecting Guwahati/Imphal and requested NEC to take up with the Ministry of Civil Aviation to include Dimapur in the Guwahati-Imphal route.
He also spoke on the importance of skill development in the region while stating that India is grappling with the problem of unemployment as a consequence of the prevailing education system. In this regard, the Governor appreciated NEC for taking cognisance of the imperative of skill development for economic prosperity of the region and pointed out that all universities should have skill development in their curriculum.
