Agartala: Union Minister of Ports, Shipping, and AYUSH Sarbananda Sonqwal today said that the North Eastern region, which was "neglected" during the Congress regime and which remained backward, is now growing fast under the "dynamic leadership" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. -

"The North-Eastern region was totally neglected in the Congress regime. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given special importance to the North East," Sonowal said at a press conference here.

The Union minister, who paid a day's visit to Tripura, took part in a 'nagarik sabha' at the Rabindra Satabarshiki Bhavan here and discussed the 'Atmanirbhar Aarthabebastha Budget 2022' with members of the civil society.

He said that the recent Union Budget is a "golden opportunity" for making India self-reliant and a powerful nation in the next 25 years. He added that the favourablé foreign policy and development initiatives were undertaken in the region have paved the way for improved relations with ASEAN countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Bhutan.

The Union Minister further said all infrastructure works would now be carried out in a coordinated manner to complete them in quick time.

Sonowal said that "the Budget was made in a way to enhance performance from Ladakh to Kanyakumari, and from Gujarat to Arunachal Pradesh so that everyone avails of the benefits under 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Viswas, Sabka Prayas'.

Sonowal, a former Chief Minister of Assam, said the Prime Minister has given special priority to the speedy implementation of all Central schemes in the North-Eastern region.

The Prime Minister has directed all Union ministers to visit the North East on a fortnightly basis and pay special attention to the speedy implementation of various Central schemes under their ministries, he said.

"Modiji has called the North East 'Astalakshmi; in terms of the potential in the region. All resources are available here and that is why he wants the North East to be India's growth engine," the Union minister said.

Meanwhile, the Tripura Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Land Ports Authority of India (LPAI) for the development and maintenance of an Inland Water Transport (IWT) terminal at Srimantapur in Sepahijala district.

The MoU between the Transport department, TWAI, and LPAI was signed in the presence of Union minister, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, and State Transport Minister Pranajit Singha Roy.