Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) minister Jitendra Singh announced Rs 90 crore for ‘Northeast Hill Area Development’ beginning from Tamenglong district in Manipur on a pilot basis, in the first phase, for a period of two years.
Speaking to media persons after inauguration the two-week ‘Northeast handicraft-cum-handloom Exhibition cum Sale Bonanza’, Jitendra Singh said that he had made the commitment to introduce an exclusive hill area development programme during his visit to Imphal and the purpose behind this was to ensure equitable development of all the districts of the state, notwithstanding their diversities of topography, geographical conditions and other aspects.
He said that with the kind intervention of union finance minister Arun Jaitley, the funds have been approved, in principle, for which he thanked the union finance minister.
Singh said that the DoNER ministry got engaged in a detailed discussion with the department of expenditure and it was realised that for pursuing the additional objective of public welfare, an additional vertical sub-scheme may be created under the existing schemes for the hill area development in the northeastern states.
