SHILLONG, JUNE 4: The annual plenary session of the North Eastern Council will be held in Shillong on Thursday, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah chairing the meeting, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said Wednesday.
“For NEC meeting as you are aware this is an annual affair and the chairman is our union home minister Amit Shah will be arriving today evening,” Sangma said.
“He will be landing in the Shillong Airport at 9pm and tomorrow is the main plenary session of the NEC.”
All chief ministers and governors of the North Eastern states are in Shillong for the meeting. “I am sure we will have a constructive meeting. We have always discussed many things,” the Chief Minister said.
Sangma noted that Union DoNER Minister has been “very proactive” in setting up sectoral task forces for the region. “I expect that we will be having a large kind of consultation and participation regarding major sectors,” he said.
“The union DoNER minister had put up a task force for different sectors for the North East where he wanted different states to work together. For example, a task force for tourism was set up, a task force for youth was set up, a task force for trade was set up, for infrastructural development where one chief minister chaired the task force with four-five other chief ministers being members in that committee,” he explained.
Sangma said he chairs the tourism task force and will present its report at the plenary. “I chair the task force for tourism and we will be presenting that tomorrow.”
“We have been talking about how NE as a whole can represent itself as a destination as a potential market for tourism not just the states on their own but the region as a whole,” he said.
“These kinds of discussion I expect will be primarily be the main focus tomorrow and to actually see on how the reports of the different task forces will be implemented in the days to come,” the Chief Minister added.
He said other issues may also be raised by the Centre.
“Apart from that, there are of course other issues which union home minister and union DoNEr minister will bring up and that we will come to know tomorrow.” Sangma also announced a series of high-level visits to the state. “As I said, beyond that also JP Nadda is also coming very soon on June 5 to Meghalaya so that will also be very important.”
“We will also have the union finance minister also who will be coming in the next 10 days to Shillong. That is also very important for us,” he said.
The Chief Minister added that he will attend the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister next week. “We also have the NITI Aayog meeting where the Prime Minister will be chairing the meeting for all chief ministers of the country which will be held on June 11. I will be going for that meeting also.”
By Our Reporter
