Agartala, Aug 1 (IANS): The central government has accorded top priority to development of eight north-eastern states and has announced the HIRA model for the region.

This was stated by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Vice-President Shivraj Singh Chouhan, here on Thursday. He was here in connection with a membership drive for the party.

Criticising previous Congress governments at the Centre and the N-E states for keeping the region backward, Chouhan said, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Tripura five-six times in the last five years, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could visit the state only once.

Elaborating the HIRA model, Chouhan said, 'H' stood for highways, 'I' for Internet, 'R' for roadways and 'A' for airways, and added, the BJP government at the Centre had created a separate ministry -- Development of North-eastern Region (DoNER) -- and set up an independent tribal affairs ministry.

The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister praised the Biplab Kumar Deb-headed BJP government in Tripura for undertaking pro-people steps, including fight against drug menace and exporting locally-produced fruits to foreign destinations like Dubai.