Union Cabinet approves nomination of Ministry of Home as ex-officio Chairman of North Eastern Council (NEC)

The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the nomination of the Union Home Minister as the ex-officio chairman of the North Eastern Council (NEC). The NEC is a statutory body with Governors and Chief Ministers of all the eight North Eastern States as its Member. The Cabinet also approved that Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of DoNER would serve as Vice Chairman of the Council. As per new arrangement, NEC will provide a forum for discussing inter-state matters more comprehensively and also consider common approaches to be taken in future. NEC can now also perform the tasks undertaken by the various Zonal Councils to discuss such inter-State issues as drug trafficking, smuggling of arms and ammunition, boundary disputes etc. This re-positioning of NEC will help it to become a more effective body for the North Eastern Region.