Ready to serve the country in any capacity: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju

ITANAGAR: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said Monday that he is ready to serve the Narendra Modi Cabinet in any capacity and that whatever responsibility is assigned to him will be taken care of with dedication.

Responding to media queries regarding the recent reshuffle in the Union Cabinet, where he was removed from the important Law and Justice ministry and awarded the Earth Science ministry, Rijiju said that for him, every ministry is equally important.

“For me to become a MP is important. As every organ is important for a body, every department is important in the government. Earth science is a very big subject,” he told reporters here on the sidelines of the Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan launched by the BJP on May 31 to highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the past nine years.

Rijiju, in whose presence a memorandum of understanding was signed earlier in the day between the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the state’s Centre for Earth Sciences and Himalayan Studies, disclosed that during the event he had announced plans to install three Doppler radar stations in the state soon.

“This will help in the enhancement of surface weather observations in the state. Also, weather forecasts with impact-based advisories will be issued for different users of the state, which will establish a mutually beneficial relationship based on scientific cooperation between the two parties in terms of training, knowledge transfers, data sharing, and other scientific research programmes,” the minister said.

The MoU was signed by state secretary for science and technology Repo Ronya and K. N. Mohan, Scientist-G and Head of Regional Meteorological Centre, Guwahati.

As a part of the MoU, both organisations would carry out joint research and development in the field of meteorology and its allied subjects, knowledge transfers, and information sharing in areas of weather, extreme event monitoring, and forecasting to further the missions of their respective organisations.

“Our target is that within a year we are going to install about 100 Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) and Automatic Raingauge Stations (ARS), so that every mountain, river, village, and town could record weather forecasts, which will help the farmers manifold,” he said, adding that there would be no dearth of funds.

To another question, Rijiju said that there was a policy of the Congress that the border areas should not be developed on the pretext that if infrastructure is created in the border areas, China could come and transgress into the state’s territory.

“However, in 2014, when I became the Minister of State for Home, this policy was reversed by the NDA government. I conceived two projects: the Frontier Highway and the East-West Industrial Corridor. The Prime Minister, without taking economic consideration into account but considering the strategic point of view, approved the two projects,” he said.

He said to develop the border areas, the Centre had recently approved a package of Rs 44,000 crore for three mega road projects, including the two-lane Frontier Highway (1465 km) with an estimated cost of Rs 27,349 crore, the two-lane inter-connectivity corridor of 1,048 km worth Rs 15,720 crore, and the two-lane Brahmakund (Parshuram Kund) to Chowkham road (61 km) worth Rs 915 crore. The total road length of these upcoming projects will be 2,574 kilometres.

The detailed project reports (DPRs) of these projects are in progress, Rijiju said.

The 2-lane Frontier Highway, to be built by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), will pass through the districts of East Kameng, West Kameng, Upper Subansiri, Upper Siang, Dibang Valley, Lohit, Anjaw, and Changlang. “Once completed, it would help safeguard the country’s borders with China and Myanmar and control migration from border areas, besides improving tourism infrastructure,” the minister said.

MoRTH will also execute the 2-laning of inter-connectivity corridors, which will pass through the districts of Pakke Kessang, East Kameng, Longding, Changlang, Upper Siang, Upper Subansiri, Tawang, East Siang, and West Siang, thereby bridging the gaps between NH-52 in Assam, the Trans Arunachal Highway, and the Frontier Highway.

In regards to the East-West Industrial Corridor, Rijiju disclosed that the road to be built along the foothills between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh from Kanubari in Longding district of the state and Brahmakund in neighbouring Bhutan is under consideration as the boundary demarcation between both neighbouring states is yet to be completed.

The minister also highlighted the achievements of the Modi government in the past nine years, as well as the development in the state during the seven years of the Pema Khandu government. Rijiju said that ‘Sewa, Susashan, and Garib Kalyan’ (service, good governance, and development of the poor) are the main mantras of the Narendra Modi government in the last nine years.

“The main focus of the Modi government is on serving the poor and honouring marginalised people; affordable, accessible healthcare for all; new momentum for nari shakti; infrastructure at speed and scale; empowering India’s amrit peedhi; and ensuring farmers’ welfare, among others”, he added.

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