ITANAGAR, May 27 - Pointing that Arunachal Pradesh has been lagging behind on most socio-economic indicators and developmental parameters as compared to rest of India and even the NE, Governor JP Rajkhowa said that the strategic border State needs continued assistance and support of the Government of India and the NEC.
Addressing the 65th plenary meeting of North Eastern Council at Shillong today which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Governor highlighted the areas which needed attention of NEC, such as connectivity, defence & border area development, tourism, education, health, human resource and skill development. He also called for �special focus� on agri-horti sectors towards developing Arunachal as an organic State.
Seeking to draw the Prime Minister�s attention towards the �challenges� facing Arunachal, he said that for socio-economic development of the State and also for success of the �Act East� Policy, it is necessary to improve the road connectivity of the State.
He also said that 160 kms of the historic Stilwell Road on Myanmar side should be upgraded as part of �Goodwill Mission� under the Act East Policy, as the 61 kms portion of road on India side has already been developed by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways as NH-153.
The Governor requested Modi to increase the frequency of daily Inter-City Express to twice a day and the weekly AC Express to at least thrice a week as per public demand.
Emphasising on air connectivity, the Governor reiterated that in addition to the proposed Greenfield Airport, the State requires at least 3-4 more airports.
Further stating that the government was committed to materialise the dream of making Arunachal the �Power House of India�, the Governor requested the NEC and the DoNER Ministry to help the State to identify and implement run of the river off grid projects so as to power the remote administrative headquarters.
He also requested for the PM�s intervention to resolve the impasse on the 2,000 MW Lower Subansiri Project by addressing the issues raised by NGOs in Assam.
