New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will grace the golden jubilee celebration of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in the capital of Meghalaya, Shillong on Sunday December 18.

The PM is all set to address an official meeting of the North Eastern Council, and also a public meeting on the occasion, the Ministry of Development for North-East Region (DoNER) said. The meeting will be held at the State Convention Centre auditorium while the public meeting will be organised at the Polo Grounds in Shillong, it said.

Home Minister Amit Shah,  Governors and Chief Ministers of the North Eastern states, DoNER Ministers, Central Ministers from the North Eastern Region, local MPs and MLAs and nominated Members of the NEC will also be in attendance for the celebration, it added. The statement further stated that senior officers from the North Eastern states, selected secretaries of central ministries, and the leaders of illustrious institutions established with NEC support had been invited.

Along with members of the local community, notable persons, achievers, Self Help Group (SHG) officials, and Farmers' Groups from each of the eight states in the region will attend the public gathering. The public gathering is likely to draw around 10,000 attendees, it stated.

A 1971 Act of Parliament established the NEC. It officially began on November 7, 1972, in Shillong, and will turn 50 in November 2022.

It was agreed to celebrate this significant milestone of the NEC in a suitable manner at the 70th Plenary meeting of the NEC, which was held in Guwahati in October 2022 and presided over by the Home Minister and Chairman NEC.
The Prime Minister will lay the foundation stones for a number of projects throughout the day that includes opening the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong, NEC, and Meghalaya state projects. According to the announcement, he will also dedicate the 4G towers in Meghalaya. During the occasion, the commemorative book "Golden Footprints," which details NEC's contributions to the growth of the North Eastern area over the past fifty years, will also be issued.
Along with depicting in colour the landmark infrastructure and development projects funded by the NEC in the recent past, the contents of this book were drawn from the Council Archives and the official documents of the eight member states of the Council.

The celebration is expected to provide new vicissitudes on the NEC a new platform to carry out its mission across the eight North Eastern states even more successfully in the days to come and to lead more development initiatives.

Raja Pateria is being tortured in jail, has threatened PM Modi

Union Cabinet meeting to be held today evening

PM Modi to visit Tripura on Dec 18 for poll campaign