After governors, NDA government focuses on NEC members' exit

GUWAHATI: After governors, the NDA government has turned its focus on the North Eastern Council. Ashoke K Dutta, full-time member of the council, has resigned from his post, following a call from a senior officer of Doner ministry. Dutta was founder director of IIM Shillong. He submitted his resignation to the President.

"I was appointed in 2013 after a rigorous selection process with tenure of three years," Dutta told ET.

Political analysts view this situation as unprecedented. No NEC members has been asked to resign before this. “There are instances when members of NEC have continued for several years despite the change in government at the Centre,” Dutta said and alleged that the atmosphere in NEC was no longer conducive for any kind of real planning and development work.

Sources in Doner Ministry confirmed the developments. A senior official in NEC said that during the recent chief ministers’ conference in Guwahati which was organised by Doner Ministry, two members were not invited.

NEC which is under the Doner ministry, does planning for northeast and has 20 members. 16 of them are governors and chief minister of Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. Two members with minister of state rank are selected by the Centre, besides the Doner minister there is one member from the Planning Commission.