Imphal, Nov 3 (IANS) Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Monday assured Manipur government officials that the Central government will extend all necessary support to ensure the state’s overall development and progress.

MoS, Home Affairs, Kumar, on Monday, during a high-level meeting at the Old Secretariat in Imphal, reviewed various Central schemes and 10 per cent Gross Budgetary Support (GBS).

A senior official said that the Union Minister, who arrived in Imphal on Monday, was also briefed on the details of “Fund Released by MHA for relief operation, resettlement and rehabilitation of ethnic violence hit Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

During the meeting, Kumar reviewed various programmes and policies of Central Ministries, Departments, and Organisations (including MHA), for ensuring the speedy implementation of flagship and other programs.

He assessed the status of different programmes being implemented by various departments under the state government in different sectors, including Health, Education, Transport and Connectivity, Power, Tourism, Rural Development, Housing, Agriculture and Food Processing, Handloom, Handicrafts and Textiles.

The Minister was briefed on “Action Plans” to improve these sectors in a time-bound manner. On a query about the number of tourists coming to the state, he was informed that the number of tourists visiting the state has drastically decreased from over 1,79,000 (1,67,000 domestic and 12,000 foreign) in 2019-20 to approximately 17,000 (15,700 domestic and 1,300 foreign) in 2024-25.

The official said that though the decrease is primarily due to civil ethnic unrest in the state, another factor deterring tourists from visiting the state is the exorbitant airfare.

Anurag Bajpai, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), who is also the additional Chief Secretary, requested the visiting minister to take up the matter with the Ministry of Civil Aviation, informing that the state has also written to the Ministry in this regard.

The Union minister also reviewed the projects taken up under 10 per cent Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of the Ministry of Development of North East Region (DoNER) and the expenditures incurred so far at the meeting. Additionally, he also reviewed the status of implementation of the National Oil Palm Mission, recently launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Family Welfare.

The state government officials explained the potential, challenges and action plan on this Mission. Various flagship schemes of the Central government and initiatives taken by the state government were also discussed during the meet, which was attended by the administrative Secretaries of various state Departments, heads of departments and other senior officials.

Later in the evening, Kumar called on Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla at Raj Bhavan, Imphal.

–IANS

sc/uk