Union minister Gadkari interacts with Manipuri students at Nagpur

Imphal: Thirty student delegates from all over Manipur and three IIIT Manipur faculty coordinators along with the host, IIIT Nagpur team, met the Union minister of Road and Transport, Nitin Gadkari at Radisson Blu Hotel, Nagpur on Tuesday as a part of the EBSB Yuva Sangam programme.

The minister and the delegates had an exciting interactive session about their respective states regarding the significance of multi-cultural experience and the current development programs implemented in their respective states.

Gadkari expressed his special interest in Manipur as well as other parts of the North-East. He said he has visited Manipur several times and has a very deep understanding of the problems faced by the state of Manipur in development of highways, such as difficulty in land acquisition and so on. The minister had specifically brought up various topics including plans and future of improved road connectivity in Manipur, construction of elevated roads in Imphal to decongest the traffic, and the development of inland water transport systems.

To emphasize the importance of road transport in economic development, he quoted the US President John F Kennedy who had said “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good”.  He also talked about the upcoming logistic centre at the border town of Moreh that will improve the border trade with Myanmar, leading to improved exports, economy, and employment of the region.

He further emphasised on the importance of region-oriented research involving locally available agricultural products to solve certain economic problems in Manipur. He talked about the importance of knowledge to wealth conversion and the importance of entrepreneurship. When a student delegate asked about the development of local roads in Manipur, the minister advised the students to approach the local authorities to ensure the proper implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). At the end of the session, the hon’ble minister presented his book, “Unmasking India” as a gift to the Manipur team and wished all the best.

Chief Minister of Manipur, N. Biren Singh in the presence of the Union minister of state for Education and External Affairs, Dr. R K Ranjan Singh, the minister of Education, Th. Basanta Kumar Singh and the director of IIIT Manipur, Prof. Krishnan Baskar had flagged off the “Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat (EBSB)” Yuva Sangam tour of the Manipuri students’ team to Nagpur Maharashtra on Monday at the chief minister’s secretariat, Imphal. The team had landed at Nagpur airport at midnight. Despite the late hour, the IIIT Nagpur team including the director, and hundreds of youth volunteers gave a warm welcome with the local MLA at Nagpur Airport. The host institute IIIT Nagpur has arranged a 5-day fully packed and exciting schedule for the Manipuri students to experience the culture of Maharashtra.