The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar and dedicated 600 MW Kameng Hydro Power Station to the nation today. The foundation stone for this airport was laid by the Prime Minister himself in February 2019. Work on the airport has been completed within a short span of time, despite the challenges due to the pandemic in between. Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister recalled his frequent visits to Arunachal and noted the grand scale of today’s programme and praised the commitment of the people of Arunachal for the development of their state. He also acknowledged the jovial yet disciplined traits of the people of Arunachal. The Prime Minister touched upon the changed work culture where he is establishing a tradition of laying the foundation stone as well as dedicating the same project himself. He also said that the launch of this airport is a resounding reply to the critics who tried to term the foundation stone of the airport as an election gimmick. The Prime Minister urged the political commentators to don a new thinking hat and stop seeing the developments of the state with the prism of political benefits. He supplemented his point by mentioning that the state is neither undergoing elections nor there are any future elections in the state. The priority of the government is the development of the state. “I am starting the day from the state of the rising sun and I will end the day where the sun sets in India in Daman and in between, I will be in Kashi”, he said.
The Prime Minister noted that in the post-independence period, the Northeast region faced indifference and neglect. The Prime Minister said that it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government which gave attention to the region and created a separate ministry for the Northeast. Later, that momentum was lost but after 2014, a new chapter of the development began. “Earlier, remote border villages were treated as the last village. “Our government worked by considering the villages in the border areas as the first village of the country. This has resulted in making the development of the Northeast a priority for the government.” “Be it tourism or trade, telecom or textiles, North East gets top priority”, the Prime Minister continued, “be it drone technology or Krishi UDAAN, be it airport connectivity or port connectivity, the government has set the priority of development on North East. The Prime Minister gave examples of the longest bridge in India, the longest railroad bridge, rail line connectivity and record construction of highways to highlight the development carried out in the region. “This is a new era of expectations and aspirations and today’s programme is a perfect example of the new approach of India”, the Prime Minister added.The Prime Minister said that Donyi Polo Airport will be the fourth operational airport for Arunachal Pradesh, taking the total airport count in the North-East region to 16. From 1947 to 2014, only 9 airports were built.