NE yet to recovered from effects of partition: Sangma

The North East is yet to fully recover from the ill-effects of partition in terms of dislocation of trade and commercial ties, disruption of access to nearby markets and break-down in connectivity, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said today.
"The North East is yet to fully recover from the ill-effects of partition in terms of dislocation of trade etc," Mukul said, while thanking President Pranab Mukherjee for his maiden speech at the special session of the state Legislative Assembly here.
He also said fresh infrastructure to restore connectivity (of the region) with the rest of the country is still not fully in place.

Stating that restoration of trade and commercial links with neighbouring countries in the region is crucial for the state, the Chief Minister said, "The inter-regional and intra-regional connectivity remains a major constraint even now. While empty streets greeted President Pranab Mukherjee's first visit to this north eastern state after assuming office in view of the 36-hour bandh called by an outlawed tribal militant outfit, the Chief Minister termed it as "unfortunate".
Stating that the same militant outfit was given a rebuff during the bandh called during the last Assembly elections, the Chief Minister said, "The public gave a resounding rebuff by turning out in record numbers, with polling percentage as high as 86 in the Khasi & Jaintia Hills region."

President Pranab Mukherjee paid a visit to the Brookside heritage bungalow, one of the three houses here, where national poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore stayed during his visits here in the 1920s.
The President also visited the Don Bosco Museum, Asia's largest museum for the indigenous cultures of the north-east later today.
Mukherjee will address the 65th convocation of the North Eastern Hills University before heading to Guwahati to inaugurate a national seminar on continuing legal education and children and law juvenile justice system including POSCO Act, 2012.