New Delhi, June 4: Three years after it was created and within three weeks of getting its first in-charge from the Northeast, the department for development of the northeastern region (Doner) has metamorphosed into a full-fledged ministry. Doner secretary Reva Nayyar said the “push” for the change in status followed the appointment of P.R. Kyndiah, who was elected to Parliament from Shillong constituency, as the Union minister for Northeast development and tribal affairs.
“He is a cabinet minister and it would have looked funny had he been in charge of only a department. This (transition from department to ministry) will facilitate greater focus on the Northeast, though the functions remain the same,” she said.
Doner, which is an offshoot of the Northeast division of the Union ministry of home affairs, plays a vital role in the region with the non-lapsable pool of central resources and the North Eastern Council (NEC) under its administrative control.
Nayyar said a separate internal finance division could be created within the new ministry to undertake the task of scrutinising allotment of funds to projects. The internal finance division of the home ministry has been evaluating all funding-related recommendations made by Doner, which is a time-consuming process.
Apart from Doner’s elevation to the status of a ministry, there was good news for the region from the civil aviation ministry. Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi said here that the civil aviation minister had committed himself to resumption of the Guwahati-Bangkok flight.
“The minister assured us that the international flight will resume soon. He also said the operational hub would be shifted from Calcutta to Guwahati,” Gogoi said.
The Guwahati-Bangkok flight had been withdrawn on grounds of inadequate commercial viability and low demand for tickets. This time round, Indian Airlines will probably cover the route instead of Air-India, Gogoi said.
The chief minister, who called on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and several Union ministers, said Dispur expected a “better deal” than before with the Congress-led coalition handling the reins at the Centre. “This is evident from the recent sanction of projects by Doner for Assam. For the first time, the allotment of funds for projects is Rs 240 crore,” Gogoi said.
In another encouraging development, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said continuing the peace process initiated in 1997 with the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) was one of his priorities.