This is the silver jubilee year of the creation of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER). Then-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee established it to deal with the apathy and ignorance towards Northeast India. Sadly, in the decade after that, this ministry became a victim of government apathy. Thankfully, under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, there has been a 152 per cent increase in the ministry’s budget allocation, from Rs 2,332 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 5,892 crore in 2023-24.

However, the development of any region is also linked to aspects such as recognising the identity of the people. This is true not just for people from the Northeast but also for other border areas. Efforts are needed on the societal front because measures taken by governments will always have limitations. People from border areas, including the Northeast, continue to face much ignorance and insensitivity. To correct that, we need to transform the DONER Ministry into the OWNER Ministry, “Our Wonderful North East Region”. Recent incidents, such as racial abuse and threats being........

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