Union Home Minister Amit Shah (Home Minister is also the Chairman of North-East Council) inaugurated the “Destination North East-2020” through video conference.

KEY POINTS:

i.The theme for Destination North East 2020 is “The Emerging Delightful Destinations”.

ii.The four-day festival (27th September – 30th September 2020) will promote and showcase the North East’s (NE) tourism, culture, heritage and business.

iii.Minister of State (MoS) for Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER) (Independent Charge), Jitendra Singh and Chief Ministers of Eight North East states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura) were present during the inauguration.

Destination North East:

i.The Programme will feature Audio Visual presentation of tourist spots of the NE easterns and a virtual exhibition of handicraft, traditional fashion, and local products.

ii.Destination North East is a calendar event of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, it is conceptualized with the objective of taking North East Region to other parts of India and bringing them closer to strengthen the national integration.

iii.On September 22, 2020 MDoNER, Jitendra Singh unveiled the Logo and song for “Destination North East- 2020”.

Key points from the Speech:

i.Highlighted the 14th Finance Commission,about the allocation for Northeast was Rs 3, 13, 375 Crore, which is 251 percent increase compared to the Rs 89, 168 Crores allocated in the 13th Finance Commission.

ii.To improve the connectivity of North Eastern States with themselves and rest of India, 6 railway projects worth Rs. 15, 088 crores have been completed by the Government of India.

iii.Government of India will spend Rs 553 Crore on the development of the airport and Rs 10, 000 crores on 19 road projects of 869 km length.