By TCN News,
New Delhi: Observing that there was a need to mainstream India to the North-Eastern Region, Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State (MoS) for Development of North-Eastern Region (Independent Charge), on Wednesday said, the North-Eastern Region was on government of India’s high priority list for development as it formed part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of India.
Addressing a gathering of officials, faculty and students in Jamia Millia Islamia, Singh went on to elaborate that the holistic growth of India was possible “by correcting lopsidedness and imbalances that existed in terms of regional development” and gave an overview of the initiatives undertaken by the government to improve infrastructure, business opportunities and making Ministry of DoNER more visible through its presence by way of rotational Camp Secretariats in each state of the region under the programme ‘DoNER at Doorstep’.
The lauded the efforts of the Centre for North-East Studies and Policy Research (CNESPR) in Jamia for introducing an optional paper titled “Introduction to North-East Studies” from the academic year 2015-16 and hoped that the CNESPR would be able to run post-graduate programme in North-Eastern Studies from the academic session 2016-17, a release from Jamia said.
He observed that the Centre richly deserved the distinction it had acquired for pioneering North East Studies that measured with the history and legacy of Jamia Millia Islamia and assured the University all possible assistance for the development of CNESPR with active support from the Ministry of DoNER.
Professor Talat Ahmad, vice chancellor, Jamia Millia Islamia, welcomed the minister. He hoped that Jamia Millia Islamia would be able to collaborate with North-Eastern Universities to enable students from Northern India visit North-Eastern Region for appreciation of the region’s history, geography, culture and society.
He also hoped that the CNESPR will be able to come up with research activities that would provide inputs to the Government for policy formulations. Students from other streams of learning in Jamia would be able sign-up for courses linked to North-Eastern Region under CBCS from the academic year 2015-16, the release added.
Earlier, Professor Sanjoy Hazarika, honorary director, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, gave a brief presentation on its activities and academic programmes. He averred that the CNESPR would function as a resource-centre for the Government with regard to formulation of policies and programmes. The Centre, he observed, was earnestly promoting the engagement with the ‘Idea of India’.
Senior officials, faculty members and students from the university attended the interactive session with the Minister, the release added.