Ten years under Modi govt have been golden era for Northeast, says Amit Shah

The last 10 years under the Modi government have been a golden era for the Northeast with an unprecedented focus on infrastructure development and conflict resolution, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday. 

The Northeast is today shifting away from its history of blockades and unrest and is pacing towards peace and development, he said.

Addressing the 71st plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) here, Shah also said that under the leadership of PM Modi, not only the distance from the Northeast to Delhi and the rest of India has reduced due to the creation of infrastructure, but the difference of hearts has also come down.

"The last 10 years under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been the most significant decade for the Northeast as it has seen most development in the 75 years since independence," he said.

He said the Northeast, which was struggling with various problem caused by ethnic, linguistic, border and extremist groups, also got the beginning of a fresh and durable era of peace in these 10 years.

The home minister said if these 10 years for the Northeast are compared with the 75 years after the country's independence, then this decade will definitely be considered as the golden period for the region.

He said the Modi government has always considered the Northeast as an important part of India.

Shah said that between 2004 and 2014, a total of 11,121 violent incidents took place in the Northeast and it has declined by 73 percent to 3,114 between 2014 and 2023.

Deaths among security forces dropped by 71 per cent from 458 to 132, while civilian deaths declined by 86 per cent, he said.

He said the incidents of insurgency have come down because in the last five years more than 8,900 members of militant groups have surrendered and joined the mainstream. This has given a message to the entire country that peace and prosperity are interconnected and without them the states cannot develop, he said.

The home minister said that to bring peace and stability in the Northeast, the Modi government has signed nine agreements and many pending law and order issues have been successfully resolved through these.

He said that except some parts of Assam and Manipur, 75 per cent of the areas covered under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in 2018 are no longed under it.