Agartala: The Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura and a leading intellectual of Northeast Jishnu Dev Varma while reviewing the progress of the region in the last 75 years suggested the change of attitude towards the potential and capacity of the region before proceeding to harness them.
Addressing a gathering on a digital platform, Dev Varma said the Northeast has a huge diversity in all the socio-economic indicators but the beauty lies in the regional identity and emotional bonding with the rest of the country and world.
Without referring to the fight between Mizoram and Assam Dev Varma said, “There is no fighting among the states. But there are disputes in democracy, which need to be resolved amicably, provided that both the states have a positive approach towards the cause and sit for discussion to erase all doubts.”
Earlier, there were loud proclamations about development in the Northeast but in which fields the developments would be prioritized, was never there. Today the central government has been prioritizing inter-regional connectivity through road, rail and air and there has been a visible development in connectivity over the past seven years, he mentioned.
“Except for Guwahati, no other cities of the region were connected feasibly but now all the capital cities and major towns of Northeast are well connected by road and air while most of them are connected in railway map. Guwahati, Agartala, Shillong, Aizawl and Imphal are connected with each other as well as cities like Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru and Mumbai, which brings us closer,” Dev Varma stated.
Besides, the Northeast has a huge tourism potential and it must exploit and create a Northeast circle to cater to the rest of the country and world, he said, adding that the region has transformed over the years and that the emotional connectivity between the region and the ‘mainstream’ is growing along with other means of connectivity.
Praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dev Varma said, “We are talking PM visiting Northeast almost 30 times more than any other prime minister of India to put the focus back on the region that inflicted the idea of Act East and now everyday things are changing in positive directions.”
