‘This pace of growth in NE has never been witnessed before,’ says Sitharaman

Guwahati, Mar 14: Reiterating the Modi-led government’s commitment and resolve to bring North-Eastern states at par with the rest of the country on development index, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday asserted that the pace with which the North-east region is growing has never been witnessed before.

Addressing the Viksit Bharat Ambassador Campus Dialogue at IIT Guwahati, Sitharaman said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a keen interest in setting up new ‘growth centres’ and also envisioned harnessing of local resources, intrinsic to the region.

“Bamboo mission programme has brought big attention to the North-East. As the world is fast abandoning use of paper and plastic, the bamboos are finding a global acceptance,” she said.

Speaking on the developmental projects in the region, Sitharaman said, “More than Rs. 25,000 crore development funds have been allocated to NE states so far while Rs. 6,600 crore funds were given for job-oriented development in the region.”

“Not long ago, PM Modi laid the foundation stone for seven cancer hospitals in Assam. Besides this eight new medical colleges and two new IIITs have been opened. To strengthen education system, more than 800 schools have been established while 25 lakh teachers are getting trained,” she said.

With this, she asserted, “This pace of growth in Northeast has never been witnessed before.”