Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said here today that the Modi Government is reaching out to remotest areas of Northeast. Addressing the inaugural function of the Zoram Mega Food Park Ltd at Kolasib in Mizoram, through a virtual medium, Dr Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accorded highest priority to North Eastern Region in the last six years and the changed the work culture with micro attention to the needs and aspirations of the region. He said, soon after the Modi government took over in 2014, Prime Minister had stated that every effort would be made to bring the North Eastern region at par with the more developed regions of the country. As for Mizoram, even though it is one of the smallest States of India, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled that Prime Minister Modi himself paid a visit to Aizwal to dedicate a 60-MW Tuirial hydropower project in in December 2017, thus making Mizoram the third power-surplus state in the North-east after Sikkim and Tripura. He said, the intent, commitment and sincerity of the Modi Government for holistic development of the North Eastern region is quite obvious and MDoNER is carrying forward this mandate and the agenda. He said, there is a need to bring rest of India closer to North East as the tiny States offer so much to learn from their rich and diverse cultural experiences. Hailing the inauguration of Zoram Mega Food Park, Dr. Jitendra Singh said that it will help in doubling the income of farmers in the area by doing away with the middlemen. Referring to nearly 40% wastage of fruits in the absence of any processing unit, the Minister said the rich and high variety of fruits could also be sold as pure packaged juice in major metropolitan cities in India. Zoram Mega Food Park located near National Highway 54, Dr Jitendra Singh said, will help in overcoming the transportation constraints and will soon become a major milestone for the storage and processing of high variety of foods, spices, fruits and vegetables grown in the region. He expressed the hope that the North-Eastern Region will take a lead for India to emerge as an economic power with the support of its huge natural and human skill resources in the Post-COVID era. Dr Jitendra Singh said, the North Eastern Region has the potential to become the Organic Destination of the world due to its rich agricultural and horticultural produce. He informed that Sikkim has already been declared as an Organic State. Dr. Jitendra Singh complimented Mizoram for its high literacy rate of about 96 percent, next only to Kerala and for its high disciplinary culture for freeing the state from the insurgency and the drug menace for which the entire civil society and religious organizations worked together. The Minister also lauded Mizoram for remaining Corona-free till third lockdown, when some migration happened and some cases cropped up. Earlier, the formal inauguration of the Zoram Park was carried out in a virtual ceremony led by Union Minister of Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Also present were Minister of State Rameshwar Teli, Mizoram Minister for Commerce and Industry R. Lalthangliana, the Power Minister R. Lal Zirliana , Lok Sabha MP C. Lalrosanga and senior officials from the Food Ministry.
