Centre plans two-week trips to familiarise students with Northeast: DoNER Minister

Guwahati, Sept 11: As the people of mainland India are not very much aware of the Northeast region, the Government of India is planning an ambitious programme to send students from different parts of the country to the region to know about people and culture.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, the Minister in charge of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jyotiraditya Scindia, admitted that not many people of mainland India are aware of the Northeast. He said that to deal with the issue, the Centre has decided to send students from different parts of the country to the region under the programme for a duration of two weeks.

During the two weeks, the students will attend classes in colleges and universities of the region for five days a week and they will spend the weekends at a nearby village.

Scindia revealed that the Prime Minister himself is passionate about the programme as he is of the view that everyone in India should know about the region. That is why, the Prime Minister had also instructed all the Ministers to visit the region and so far, Union Ministers visited the region more than 700 times.

The Minister revealed that the student exchange programme is scheduled to be launched in November or December, and 100 students would be sent to the region in each batch. “We are planning to send around four thousand students to the region under the programme this year,” he added. However, before launching the programme, some groundwork has to be done and tie-up between colleges and universities will have to be completed, he added.

Scindia revealed that a batch of 100 students from the Northeast was sent to the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) so that they can learn first-hand about the space programme of India. More such batches will be sent to the ISRO in the coming days.

The DoNER Minister further asserted that he would like to be the go-to man for all the States of the Northeast to deal with problems, even if the same is not related to his Ministry.

“In case of any requirement, the State Governments can always contact me and I shall take up the issues with the concerned Ministers. There was an issue in Sikkim as most parts of the highway leading to the State passes through West Bengal. I immediately took up the issue with the Surface Transport Minister for a new alignment of the highway,” he said. He said that when he was in the Civil Aviation Ministry, he had solved the problem of an airport in Meghalaya by taking up the issue with the Defence Ministry. “If the Northeastern states want any help from me, I am always here to help,” he asserted.