Rajnath Singh in Shillong to chair North Eastern Council meet

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh arrived here in a chopper today around 1.30 pm to chair the 67th Plenary of the North Eastern Council (NEC), a government official said.

He was greeted by state Home Minister James K Sangma on his arrival at an advanced landing ground in Upper Shillong, he said.

This is the first time a Union Home Minister would be presiding over the plenary meet of the council.

Jitendra Singh, the Union minister for development of north eastern region (DoNER), along with chief ministers and governors of northeast states, would be attending the two-day plenary here to discuss development projects with Singh, NEC spokesperson M R Mahapatra said.

"The Union Home Minister will review various presentations on matters related to all-round development of north-eastern region. The status of NEC-funded projects would also come up for discussion at the meet," he said.

Among other issues that could feature in the agenda of the plenary, Mahapatra stated, the chief ministers are likely to deliberate on livelihood programmes, management of water resources, afforestation, farmers' income and NEC schemes.

The Union home minister would also evaluate security and connectivity programmes in the region during the meet, the spokesperson added.