Shillong/Agartala, Aug 24 (IANS): The proposed 2-day meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC), a regional planning body for the 8 states of the region, in Agartala has been postponed due to the devastating floods in Tripura, officials said on Friday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, other Union ministers concerned and top officials were scheduled to attend the plenary meeting of the NEC in Agartala on August 31 and September 1.
A senior NEC official in Shillong said that the new dates would be announced in due course of time.
Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha had earlier said that the progress of various ongoing and proposed development projects, the India-Bangladesh border-related issues and other important matters were scheduled to be discussed in the two-day NEC meeting, attended by the Governors and Chief Ministers of all the eight northeastern states and senior officials of NEC and DoNER Ministry.
The Union Home Minister, in the previous NEC meeting in Shillong, had said that in the 50 years of its establishment, the NEC has increased the pace of development of the region by providing a policy-related platform to all the states and simplifying the solutions to their problems. He had said that in these 50 years, more than 12,000 km of roads have been constructed in this region, 700 MW power plants have been established and many institutes of national excellence have also been established under the guidance of NEC.
Highlighting the role and scope of NEC under the Act East Policy, the Home Minister had said that in the last few years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has achieved significant success in solving the problems of law and order, insurgency and borders in this region.
The devastating floods in Tripura have left at least 24 people, including women and children, dead, and several others injured in landslides and drowning in six districts since Monday while two persons were reportedly missing.
A state government official said that around 1.28 lakh people have taken shelter in 558 relief camps in all eight districts. He said that 17 lakh people were affected in the entire state, which has witnessed unprecedented rain and devastating floods since August 19.
With its headquarters in Meghalaya's capital Shillong, the NEC, a regional planning and statutory advisory body for the eight northeastern states including Sikkim, was constituted under the North Eastern Council Act, 1971, and came into being on November 7, 1972.