Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that his government has always been alive to the special needs of Assam and the North East region.

”The development of North East has always been the priority of the government and we have initiated several projects for this regard”, the Prime Minister said at the foundation laying ceremony of the National Institute of Design in Jorhat, Assam.

Highlighting the various initiatives taken by his government,

The Prime Minister pointed out that the measures taken for the protection of flood and erosion prone Majuli Island and Rohmoria area were at an advanced state of completion.

The Bongaigaon Thermal Power Station (BTPS) was likely to be commissioned shortly and the Assam Gas Cracker Project was another significant project which the government wanted to complete at the earliest, he said.

”We have also introduced several projects for improving connectivity, including the guage conversion, construction of Dholla-Sadiya and Numali-Gohpur bridges, four-laning of NH-37 on the Nagaon-Jorhat-Dibrugarh stretch”, he added.

The Prime Minister expressed happiness at the commissioning of Ledo Open Cast Mining while the project for the preservation of the cultural heritage of Natun Kamlabari Sattra in Majuli has been also taken up.

Referring to the development of the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), Dr. Singh said an additional RS 250 crore project was currently under implementation.

”Some important projects in BTC areas of Kokrajhar and Bongaigaon districts along with Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills districts was also being taken up under the Social and Infrastructure Fund”, he said.

The Prime Minister said all these measures would be able to address the development deficit of Assam to some extent.

He said that he had a special bond with Assam as ”I represent it in Parliament and to me coming here is like coming home” expressing happiness that the NID was being set up in the state.

”The NID has evolved as a touchstone of good design education in India while pursuing its efforts for spreading knowledge of traditional Indian designs across the world”, the PM said.

The design institute in Jorhat could leverage the traditional craftsmanship of the region and help in giving a new life to the traditional arts by converting creative ideas into tangible products and services for society at large, he said.

‘‘Especially to the North East, better industrial design can contribute to the development of micro, small and medium enterprises by enhancing product utility and by helping in translating new ideas into new products”, he said.

The promotion of the textile sector in the region as well as the initiative under the National Bamboo Mission should also get support from this institute, the Prime Minister added.

The Prime Minister regretted that in the process of rapid industrialisation some of the traditional skills have been lost though with the opening up of the country to global competition, the traditional design skills are once again finding a central role in differentiating the products.

Dr. Singh hoped that the design initiative taken by the government would sustain and strengthen traditional knowledge, skills and capabilities while also being sensitive to global demand and requirement.

”Our government has taken significant initiative to enhance the design innovation and coaching and application framework cutting across all sectors and disciplines”, he said.

The Prime Minister hoped that the steps taken by the government would ensure that the ”rights of creative people are protected and talented people are trained in innovative processes, leading to creation of intellectual wealth”.

The value addition, innovation and design can play a pivotal role in enhancing the competitiveness of both manufacturing and service industries, he said.

He further pointed out that stakeholders cutting across all industrial sectors in India have participated in design summits held over the year to evolve and approach for ”Designed in India and Made for the World” campaign.

Prime Minister reviews construction of houses under PMSIMDP

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturdy reviewed the Indira Awas Yojana houses constructed in Haligaon, Assam under a special scheme and interacted with the beneficiaries.

Dr. Singh arrived amidst tight security at Haligaon village under Rampur Block of Kamrup (Rural) district where construction of 46 houses at the cost of Rs 38,500 has been sanctioned under the Prime Minister’s Special Initiative of Multi-sectoral Development Programme (PMSIMDP).

The construction of seven houses has been completed.

The Prime Minister visited the house of a daily wage earner Wajid Ali and asked him what he does for a living and whether his children were studying.

Ali replied that he was a daily wage earner and his children were going to college and schools.

Dr. Singh appreciated that the children were being educated and asked Ali’s eldest daughter 17-year-old Mufida Begum about her education.

Begum said that she was a first year Higher Secondary student of D K College, Mirza.

The Prime Minister asked her what her favourite subjects were and she replied they were Logic and Political Science.

When Dr. Singh asked whether she liked getting the house from the government, Begum smiled and said all the family members liked it.

The Prime Minister was felicitated with a traditional ‘phulam gamosa’ and bouquet of flowers by the villagers.

He did neither made any public speech nor interacted with the media at the village.

The Prime Minister later left for Jorhat where he is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of National Institute of Design (NID) AT 12:30 P.M.