‘Only a tourist hub till Narendra Modi became PM’: Amit Shah on development in NE

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah, who is on a whirlwind tour of the north-eastern region, on Friday said that in the last 75 years of the country’s independence, the entire Northeast was only considered a tourism hub and no real development had taken place there before Prime Minister Narendra Modi was elected to lead the country.

“In 75 years of Independence, before Narendra Modi became the PM, the northeast was considered only a tourist destination, famous for its places of interest for tourists. But after he became the Prime Minister, the real development of the northeast began,” Shah said. He was speaking at the “Cooperative Dairy Conclave- 2022” of the Eastern & North-eastern regions in Gangtok, which he inaugurated earlier in the day.

Shah emphasised that he was not making a political claim but was making a plain statement of fact. Referring to his visit to the northeast in 2014, he said he had been regularly visiting Sikkim, Assam and other north-eastern regions and had seen the development taking place for himself and could vouch that development in the region had begun only after the BJP assumed power at the Centre.

The home minister is on a three-day visit to Sikkim, where he inaugurated the dairy-owners meet to provide an impetus to the dairy industry. He is also scheduled to attend a slew of programmes in Assam.

Blaming the earlier UPA governments at the Centre for not tapping the true potential and resources of the northeast, Shah said that there was a time when the north-eastern region was known for its rich dairy products but despite that the governments at that time did nothing to bring in the cooperative system which would benefit both cattle rearers and dairy owners. He also pointed out that children from these states fell short of nutrition despite there being no dearth of milk and milk products in the northeast. “It is only now that the milk and milk products processed in dairies in Sikkim and other districts will contribute to the nourishment of the children of the region,” he said.

“The Narendra Modi government has decided to set up around 65,000 active PACS (Primary Agricultural Credit Society). We have decided that within 5 years every panchayat will have one PACS and a dairy each,” the home minister said amid rousing applause by dairy farmers.

According to Shah’s itinerary for October 7, which he had posted on a microblogging site, the home minister will also unveil a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Raj Bhavan in Gangtok.

Later in the day, Shah will meet BJP’s core group in Sikkim before leaving for Assam, where accompanied by BJP national president JP Nadda, he will meet Assam BJP’s core committee on Friday in Guwahati.

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