Development Projects in the North-East discussed. The 67th plenary meeting of North Eastern Council (NEC) was recently held in Shillong, Meghalaya.
- It was chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
- The meeting was attended by Union Minister of Development of NER and Governors and Chief Ministers of the north-eastern States.
What was discussed in the meeting?
- The meeting discussed development projects of Northeast States.
- It also reviewed various presentations on matters related to all-round development of NER.
- The status of NEC-funded projects was also discussed.
- It also deliberated on livelihood programmes, management of water resources, afforestation and doubling farmer’s income, by 2022, road connectivity, Implementation of Poshan Abhiyan and Ayushman Bharat etc.
- It also evaluated security and connectivity matters in the region.
- For the first time since it was established in 1971, NEC discussed topics related to security in the region.
- It also discussed issues related to Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and proposed Naga accord.
About the North Eastern Council (NEC):
- NEC is the nodal agency for economic and social development of North Eastern Region (NER) which consists of eight states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.
- It was constituted in 1971 under North Eastern Council (NEC) Act, 1971 (Thus NEC is a statutory body).
- In June 2018, the chairmanship of NEC was transferred by Union Cabinet to Home Minister from Minister of Development of NER.
- NEC serves as an apex level body for securing balanced and coordinated development and facilitating coordination with NER states.
- It has been mandated to function as regional planning body for NER.
- It gives priority to schemes and projects while formulating regional plan for this area benefiting two or more states.
