NEW DELHI, Sept 14 - BJP national president Amit Shah, slamming the previous regime, claimed that whenever his party came to power, it focused on North East, taking a dig at the UPA dispensation for making the DoNER Ministry �dormant�.
Giving away the �Karmyogi Award 2015� to noted Gandhian Natwar Thakkar, instituted by My Home India, a Mumbai- based NGO, Shah here last evening said that Mahatma Gandhi had inspired many youths to work for the country and exuded confidence that the youths can take inspiration from Natwar Thakkar�s life sketch.
The BJP president heaped lavish praise on RSS for its effort to integrate North East with the rest of India. Lauding the contribution of individuals and institutions to keep North East connected with the mainstream, Shah said that he wants to say it with pride that RSS had a great contribution in it.
�More than 272 fulltime RSS pracharaks worked in the region, and 10 of them also lost their lives, while four of them were killed in Tripura after being kept hostage for long. There are many institutions, which got inspiration from the RSS,� he said.
�Whenever the BJP came to power, we brought the North Eastern region to the forefront. When Vajpayee was Prime Minister, he set up the DoNER Ministry. Then it became dormant after our government went out. Again when the Modi government came to power, the DoNER ministry is back to life,� he said.
Shah rued that despite having nature�s bounty, the region could not develop into a tourist hub, which would have been the case in any other country.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also sent a message felicitating the Gandhian and noting that Thakkar has set an example, which will inspire many individuals to work in this direction.
Addressing the function, Union Minister for DoNER, Dr Jitendra Singh said that though he took over the Ministry, he had little knowledge about the North East. But now he claimed he knows the region better than many people.
He further disclosed that FM radio channels in 14 languages of the North East would be inaugurated by Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley soon.
Speaking on the occasion, the octogenarian Gandian urged the Centre to develop the telecommunication and power sectors in the North East. It is not only the question of building up infrastructure alone, as maintaining them is equally important, he added.
He also announced that the cash award of Rs 1 lakh he received would be donated to the Guwahati-based Kasturba Gandhi Ashram.
