Development of the North East is essential for the country's economic development, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday while criticising the previous UPA regime at the Centre for neglecting the region for years.
Singh, who was addressing a function to mark the 31st Arunachal Pradesh statehood day, called the North East a "holy place" and one of the richest in the country. "But no one had taken care of it even after several decades since Independence," he said.
"In 2001, the NDA Government under Prime Minister AB Vajpayee created the Ministry of Department of North Eastern Region as an independent one. After this, the region got a momentum in terms of development," he told the gathering.