PASIGHAT, Jan 19 - Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu today said that he has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone of the Hollongi Airport in Itanagar next month. Khandu said that the project, which has been pending for ten years due to the land compensation issue, has finally been settled by the Government.
�The Central Government finally accorded sanction for construction of the Hollongi Airport in December last year. Now the project will start with the laying of foundation by the Prime Minister in February this year,� Khandu said.
Accompanied by a host of Arunachal MLAs and government officers, the Chief Minister was attending the golden jubilee celebration of the Bilat HS School in East Siang district on Friday. He said that his Government was taking all necessary steps to bring reforms in the State�s education sector, besides phase-wise decentralisation of government departments by implementing schemes through district-level committees led by the Deputy Commissioners concerned.
Addressing the people on the occasion, Khandu said that the Central Government was giving priority to road and air connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh. He added that Union ministers have visited the frontier State more than 130 times during the last four years, which was not the case in the earlier 24 years.
�The development process in Arunachal Pradesh has got an impetus during the five-year rule of the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government at the Centre. The Prime Minister, who promised to give special attention to the NE region, has fulfilled his assurances. Apart from the boost to road and air connectivity, digital connectivity has also been promoted in Arunachal during last four years,� said Khandu.
�Since attaining Statehood in 1987 to 2013, the State had seen visits of Union ministers less than 50 times, but these ministerial visits jumped to 130 after Narendra Modi took over as the Prime Minister,� the Chief Minister added.
Khandu maintained that the BJP Government took steps for early completion of the Advanced Landing Ground at Pasighat in East Siang even as it developed rail connectivity in the State.
Moreover, the Government has completed construction of the Bogibeel rail-cum-road bridge over the Brahmaputra river in Assam and introduced the Tinsukia-Naharlagun passenger train to ease communication between Arunachal and upper Assam and other areas, the Chief Minister said.
