Centre to identify ten backward districts in northeast

NEW DELHI: 

DoNER minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday informed that the Centre will identify ten districts in the northeast, lying at the bottom of the ladder in the field of governance and development parameters, within a week.

In a high-level meeting chaired with various officials of the Ministry of Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER) and the North Eastern Council (NEC), Singh announced that the exercise aims to bring these districts at par with other developed districts in terms of saturation level.

Focusing on the acceleration of "ease of living" in these districts through a smooth delivery of goods and services, he further clarified that these ten districts will be different from the 14 aspirational districts of the northeast chosen earlier based on 49 key indicators, of which the status of healthcare was an important component.

He said it was also a shift to a more scientific and objective assessment of development activities, besides bringing about a sea change in the work culture at all levels of governance.

Singh reiterated that the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will assist in rolling out the development projects in the northeast through space technology for a better accomplishment of infrastructural projects in the northeastern region.

Besides, the minister also instructed the officials to prepare a comprehensive database of the development projects in each of the eight states that were carried out in the last seven years and showcase the marked improvement in all the sectors in comparison to the earlier 63 years.

(Edited by Ridhika Joshi)

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