SHILLONG, Oct 29? Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will inaugurate the 50th meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) at New Delhi on November 16 next. The meeting is expected to open a new chapter for the Council as a regional planning body. NEC sources here revealed that though the agenda of the meeting is yet to be finalised, the 50th meeting of the NEC is likely to finalise the ?roadmap? for the development of the North Eastern States, which now includes Sikkim.
Strengthening of the NEC and more autonomy will also figure in the meeting which will be attended by the Chief Ministers of all the eight States in the region.
The roadmap was earlier discussed in the NEC meeting at Gangtok on September 11, 2002 and again in Shillong on February 19 this year. NEC secretary, Dr Kamal Taori yesterday told newsmen that the Council in its bid to strengthen monitoring of the various schemes and projects being implemented in the region has decided to rope in the service of two private agencies. ?With the limited manpower in the Council, it is not possible to effectively monitor the implementation of various schemes in the region?, he said.
Henceforth, monthly review meetings will also be held with serious States in the region. The State governments have also been requested to nominate one officer as State coordinating ?Link Officer? in the respective State Secretariats. The Link Officers will be responsible for preparing comprehensive list of all on-going projects and new proposals.
Dr Taori has also nominated officers of NEC Secretariat to act as Link Officers at NEC for different States. Taori himself would look after Manipur while Assam would be taken care of by NEC Finance Adviser U N Majhi. Planning Adviser P L Thanga has been assigned Mizoram while Deputy Finance Adviser T K Hangzo will serve as the Link Officer for Meghalaya.
Other NEC officers, viz., PK Deb (Arunachal Pradesh), SK Malik (Nagaland), Rajib Mathur (Sikkim) and RP Kharpuri (Tripura) will serve as Link Officers at the NEC Secretariat. It has also been decided that projects up to Rs 50 crore shall be sanctioned in the respective State headquarters by the NEC during visit by the Secretary so as to curtail time and cost in sanctioning of projects.