SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Wednesday said that Shillong is set to host the annual North Eastern Council (NEC) meeting, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah scheduled to arrive in the city on Wednesday evening.
Informing about the schedule, Sangma said, “This is an annual affair and the Chairman, our Honourable Home Minister, will be arriving today evening. He’ll be landing in Shillong Airport at about 9 o’clock.”
He added that the main plenary session of the NEC meeting will be held on Thursday, with participation from all Chief Ministers and Governors of the Northeastern states.
“Tomorrow is the main plenary session and of course all the Chief Ministers of Northeast, all the Governors of Northeast are in Shillong and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of constructive meetings,” the Chief Minister said.
Highlighting the proactive role of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Sangma said that multiple sectoral task forces have been constituted to encourage inter-state collaboration.
“Our Honourable DoNER Minister has been very proactive. A number of task forces have been set up for different sectors like tourism, youth, trade and infrastructure, where one Chief Minister chairs the task force along with other member states,” he said.
Sangma, who is chairing the tourism task force, said that a key focus would be on positioning the Northeast as a unified tourism destination.
“I chaired the task force for tourism and we’ll be presenting that tomorrow. We’ll be talking about how the Northeast as a whole can represent itself as a destination, not just individual states but the region collectively,” he stated.
He added that discussions would largely revolve around the implementation of recommendations put forward by these task forces.
“These kinds of discussions will be the main focus tomorrow—to see how the reports of the different task forces will be implemented in the days to come,” he said.
The Chief Minister also indicated that additional issues may be raised during the meeting by the Union Home Minister and the DoNER Minister.
Apart from the NEC meeting, Sangma highlighted a series of upcoming high-level visits and engagements in the state. He informed that J. P. Nadda is scheduled to visit Meghalaya on June 5, followed by the visit of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman within the next 10 days.
He further noted that he would also be attending the upcoming NITI Aayog meeting on June 11, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by Chief Ministers from across the country.
“These are very important engagements for us, and we look forward to meaningful discussions that will benefit the state and the region,” Sangma added.
