Centre invested Rs 21,000 cr in Northeast's edu sector in 11 years: Sitharaman

Gohpur (Assam), Nov 8 (PTI) Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday claimed that the central government has invested Rs 21,000 crore in the education sector in the Northeast in the last 11 years.

Connectivity has also received a boost in the region during the period, with new states put on the railway map and several greenfield airports constructed, she added.

Sitharaman, who was on a two-day visit to Assam since Friday, was speaking after laying the foundation stone for the state's first university focussed on technical and vocational education and training at Bholaguri in Gohpur in Biswanath district.

The 'Swahid Kanaklata Barua State University' will be built at a cost of Rs 415 crore on a total area of 241 acres, with a built-up area of 7 lakh sq ft.

"Since 2014, the Centre has invested Rs 21,000 crore in the education sector in the Northeast. Over 850 new schools have been opened. The first AIIMS in the region has become operational, and over 200 new skill development institutes have been operationalised. The country's first sports university is also coming up in the region," Sitharaman said.

In Assam alone, 15 new medical colleges have been built, while South Asia's largest cancer care centre is coming up in the state and the state will also soon have the region's second IIM, she added.

"To boost the education sector, the Centre is working in coordination with the state governments of the region," the Union minister said.

Besides developing roads, bridges and tunnels, the Centre is also working on the aviation and railway sectors in the region, Sitharaman said.

She said that in the last 11 years, 10 new greenfield airports have been built in the region.

Manipur and Meghalaya have been added to the country's railway map for the first time during this period, she added.

Paying tributes to freedom fighter Kanaklata Barua, Sitharaman said, "At the age of 17 years, when she should have been entering a university to study, she sacrificed her life for the nation to keep our national flag high. A university in her name should have come up a long time ago." Barua was a member of the 'Mrityu Bahini' during the freedom struggle and was killed in police firing while leading a procession to hoist the national flag at Gohpur police station on September 20, 1942, during the Quit India Movement.

Sitharaman said that while conserving the Gohpur police station or building a memorial there will attract people, the university in her name will inspire generations of youth, and lauded the initiative as a step in the right direction.

She maintained that it was a privilege for her to lay the foundation stone of a varsity dedicated to the memory of Barua and exhorted the youth who will enroll to carry in them the essence of deep patriotism that Barua and other freedom fighters of the area embodied.

The university will offer courses in various technology domains, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber-security, blockchain, drone and navigation technology, quantum computing, brain computer interface, internet of things, and smart cities and smart environments.

It will feature academic blocks for 2,000 students, hostels for 1,620 students, residential quarters, a guest house and a student facility centre. PTI SSG SSG ACD