Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein on Wednesday said the Namsai district has the potential to become a commercial hub as well as an educational and tourist hub.

Mein said this at the third quarter of Namsai’s District Level Monitoring Committee (DLMC) meeting at the DC’s office.

He also said the planning process has undergone a reform for development schemes to start from the grassroots level instead of being parachuted.

Mein said due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the budget announcement for the current financial year could not be implemented.

He, however, exuded hope that the budget provisions would be implemented in totality during the upcoming financial year.

Marking Namsai as the fastest growing district in the state, he urged the government officers to perform and help in making Namsai a model district.

Reviewing the progress of ongoing developmental activities in Namsai, he urged the district monitoring team to strictly monitor the implementation of works and see that projects are being implemented as per the specifications mentioned in the detailed project reports (DPRs).

Locla MLA Chau Zingnu Namchoom said interactions with district officers happen through such meetings that help being updated on the progress of various developmental schemes being implemented in the district.

He said the aspirational district has a very competent team under the leadership of deputy commissioner R K Sharma and all the projects are being implemented satisfactorily.

He sought the release of funds to expedite the remaining works that could not be completed due to Covid-19.

Lekang MLA, Jummum Ete Deori sought the cooperation of heads of departments and the government officers for successful implementation of the schemes for speedy development of the district.

Earlier, DC Sharma in his welcome speech said that the DLMC meetings were supposed to be held every three months but the pandemic and lockdown affected the periodicity.

He, however, said the works have restarted and asked the heads of departments to provide the actual progress reports with geo-tagged photographs.

Damien Lepcha is Northeast Now Correspondent in Arunachal Pradesh. He can be reached at: lepcharaul@gmail.com