Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy presides over NEC review meeting

 SHILLONG: Union Minister for Tourism, Culture, DoNER and Vice Chairman North Eastern Council (NEC) G. Kishan Reddy on Friday held a review meeting with senior NEC officers in the secretariat complex, Shillong.

Kishan Reddy advised that NEC should make adequate preparations for the upcoming Global Investors Summit, which is scheduled to be held sometime in the months of April and May. He indicated that even a parallel event could be organized by the NEC along the lines of the main event that is being done by the Ministry of DoNER where the NEC could identify a few critical sectors which are important to the region such as Tourism and Information Technology and get in touch with potential investors from Tourism stakeholders and IT hubs.

NEC’s Vice Chairman mentioned that NEC should make efforts to promote home stays in the NE region. He suggested that an appropriate proposal to infuse credit to boost up the homestay sector in the northeast region could be prepared by NEC, where the interest on bank loans availed of by homestay owners could be borne by the government. Earlier, Secretary K. Moses Chalai, while welcoming the Union Minister, briefed him on the staff position in the Council Secretariat. The Secretary indicated that one of the important sectors that has huge potential in the NE region is the IT sector, especially with respect to Industry 4.0, including interventions such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence, etc.

The Planning Advisor, C.H. Kharshiing, was briefed about the staff structure of the NEC and told that since the posts in the Secretariat were sanctioned over a period of 40 years depending upon the immediate requirement at different points in time, several posts were sanctioned in isolation with very little or no career advancement opportunities. Advisor Transport Navin Kumar mentioned that from the financial year 2022–23, a new scheme named North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (Roads) had been approved by the Cabinet and the earlier NERSDS was merged with the new scheme. All senior officers, including Financial Adviser Gaigongdin Panmei, Economic Adviser S. Lalthangzo Sherry, and Economic Adviser (HR) Satyen Lama, were present on the occasion.

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