Tuesday, April 12 2005 17:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Lamenting that the North Eastern Council (NEC) has fallen short of expectations to deliver as the apex regional planning body, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (Apr 12, 2005) said that issues related to economic development and security concerns should get the same kind of priority while ensuring rapid development of the region.

"Given the collective wisdom of the region, NEC is in a good position to synergise developmental efforts with security needs," he said that at the 50th NEC meeting in New Delhi.

"I am sad that a lot of effort still needs to be made to revitalise this body and make it capable of fulfilling its original mandate. The security dimension has been almost completely ignored in its activities," Singh said.

The suggestion made in the Revitalisation Report with the consent of the Home Ministry should be studied, he added.

NEC was established to provide an integrated, holistic, regional perspective to development, but has not fully lived up to these expectations, he said.

Rather, Singh said that it has become a fund disbursing body, mechanically allocating among states whatever little resources it has.