The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr. Jitendra Singh will inaugurate the “Destination North East – 2016” festival here tomorrow. Organised by the Ministry of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER) and Ministry of Culture, the festival will showcase the inherent economic, social and cultural strength of the North East Region (NER) at the national level. The three-day mega event will include theme specific Business Summit consisting of sectors like Tourism, Agriculture, Food Processing, Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, IT, Handloom & Handicrafts, Livelihood, Micro-Finance and Start ups. Destination North East will enable various Central Ministries to showcase their initiatives in North East India. The event will also have cultural programmes to showcase the rich culture and folk dances of North East India.
After the inaugural session there will be sessions on Initiatives taken for Development of North-Eastern Region, Holistic Development of Tourism in the North-East – Exploring the unexplored and Opportunities for IT and ITES in the NER tomorrow. On Day-2, panel discussions will be held on enhancing scope of livelihood in North-East, Micro Finance for inclusive growth, Startup opportunities and challenges in NER, Growing up value chain from Handloom to Fabrics to Garments, need-based Skill Development and entrepreneurship promotion in NER and positioning the North-East Handicraft in the domestic and international market as a premium brand.
Cultural events include North-East folk music and dance choreography, Bihu dance featuring the acclaimed Smt. Madhurima, folk medley choreographed by Guru Madhurima Choudhury, popular rock music of North-East – performance by the Reverse Tragedy Band, Folk fusion and crossover music and Fashion Show of NIFT. Competitions for school children will also be held such as Quiz, Dance (solo & group) and Singing (Hindustani, Indian Pop, Western Pop and Classical).
Dr. Jitendra Singh has said that the Destination North East festival is being held to showcase the richness of North-East to the rest of India. The next venues for Destination North East will be Mumbai and Bengaluru, followed by other parts of the country. He said that each State of North-East India will be known by its distinct identity and for its uniqueness such as Mizoram as Bamboo State and Sikkim as Organic State.
DoNER, the only of its kind union Ministry that is region-specific, has taken several initiatives since the taking over by the current Government. The Ministry has different schemes for extending financial and other assistance to different states in the region. Some of the important schemes include Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR), North East Road Sector Development Scheme (NERSDS), North East Rural Livelihood Project (NERLP), North East State Road Investment Project (NESRIP) and other initiatives taken by North Eastern Council. Major initiatives of the DoNER include expansion of rail, road, telecom and FM radio network and power generation capacity, new AIIMS to be set up in Assam, Film Institute in Arunachal Pradesh, Sports University in Manipur, making North East the Organic Capital of India, North East BPO scheme to create 5,000 seats for call centres and “Ishan Uday” and “Ishaan Vikas” schemes for students.