STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology Dr. Jitendra Singh said that, rising above politics, the Modi government took path-breaking decisions for the development of the Northeast that are visible in the quality of life of the people in the region. “Northeast today is being cited as an example of Modi’s development model,” he said.
Addressing the gathering in the inaugural session of the regional conference on the theme ‘e-Governance’ organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in collaboration with the Government of Assam, Dr. Singh said that the reforms were brought in by the Union government for ease of governance and ease of delivery of services. “The Prime Minister’s Awards were brought in. Objective criteria were made based on flagship schemes. The idea was to let all the districts compete. As a result, now we have the participation of more than 750 districts, and we have received some of the best excellence awards from NE,” he said.
The minister said that mainstreaming has to happen at the level of thoughts and best practices. He said that in the past, Union ministers’ visits to the Northeast were quite rare. “However, after coming to power, Modi himself visited the region over 60 times, let alone other Union ministers. After the independence of India, the total visits of prime ministers to the Northeast will not be 60,” he said, adding, “The Prime Minister’s stress on mainstreaming the Northeast has brought a sea change in terms of road, rail, and air connectivity in the region.”
Dr. Singh also spoke on the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS). “It is not only a means of involving citizens but also a means of binding the entire country,” he said, adding that initiatives such as Civil Services Day, the Good Governance Index, and regional conferences have given a massive outreach to NE.
Dr. Singh asserted that the regional conference on e-government serves as an important platform to transfer knowledge and practices that can be mutually beneficial. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the government is taking several strides in the field of IT and new-age technologies for better delivery of good governance to citizens, he said, and added that the Northeast would play an important role in making India the top country in the world by 2047.
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