Agartala, July 16 (IANS) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha said on Wednesday that his state is now a front-runner in the country, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah highlighting its remarkable development over the past seven years under the current BJP government.

Distributing appointment letters to 184 newly recruited junior engineers under the Public Offers Department (PWD), the Chief Minister added that the present BJP government has been working to achieve the goal set by the Prime Minister.

“Recently Prime Minister Modi, while addressing an official function in Odisha, highlighted the developments in Tripura and requested the people to visit the state. Also a few days ago, the Home Minister while addressing a meeting in Kerala stressed upon progress in Tripura,” CM Saha said.

He added that from the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for North East Region (PM-DevINE), Rs 122 crore was sanctioned for setting up a special drug de-addiction centre at Bishramganj in the state’s Sepahijala district and Rs 202 crore for the state’s dental college.

“Tripura is in the second position in the northeast region in GSDP after Assam. The state is in the second position in the region in per capita income after Sikkim. The huge untapped natural resources and vast environmental beauty of Tripura are a treasure, and the state government has been trying to effectively utilise them to use for the state,” the Chief Minister said.

He told that Rs 7,000 crore was allocated in the current year’s (2025-26) state budget for infrastructure development in the state and the state government wanted to build world class infrastructure in Tripura.

Due to the lengthy monsoon period, Tripura has just four months working in the field to develop the infrastructure and the government officials were asked to work accordingly, said CM Saha, who also holds the PWD portfolio.

The Chief Minister said that Prime Minister Modi asked to develop a world class tourism spot in Tripura so that tourists from not only from different parts of the country but also from abroad are willing to visit the state.

He told that in the last seven years, government’s regular jobs were provided to 19,742 unemployed youths while 7,000 to 8,000 people were engaged as contractual staff and through outsourcing.

“I have recently laid the foundation stone for an ambitious Rs 97.70 crore project to set up a 51-Shakti Peethas Park at Banduar in southern Tripura’s Gomati district to boost spiritual heritage,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that replicas of 51 Shakti Peethas would be set up in the proposed park.

These 51 Shakti Peethas now exist across Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, besides different parts of India.

Spread over 15 acres, the 51-Shakti Peethas Park would feature a digital museum, amphitheatre, sky bridge, ample vehicle parking, and one of the tallest statues of Nataraj.

Power and Agriculture Minister Ratan Lal Nath, Finance Minister Pranajit Singha Roy, PWD Secretary Kiran Gitte as well as Information and Cultural Affairs Department Secretary Pradeep Kumar Chakravarty also attended the event.

–IANS

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