Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the time had come for the police force to change its approach with the end of the insurgency in the northeast, to ensure that people get justice quickly.

Shah, addressing the 72nd plenary session of the North East Council (NEC), said Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought peace to the region by signing 20 peace accords in 10 years, leading to the surrender of 9,000 armed militants.

“Police have been fighting insurgency in the northeast for the past four decades. With the insurgency now over, we need to change the approach of the force to ensure that people get justice within three years of filing an FIR,” he said.

The Home Minister also said connectivity is no longer an issue in the region as the Center has passed ₹81,000 crore for rail connectivity and ₹41,000 crore for the road network in the northeastern states.

Asserting that Prime Minister Modi had accelerated developmental activities in the northeast, Shah said Union ministers “spent 700 nights” in regional states since the BJP-led NDA took over. power at the Center.

“After the exchange of enclaves (land boundary agreements) with Bangladesh, the whole world will open up to the northeast. This will change the investment ecosystem in the region,” he said.

The senior BJP leader also emphasized on uplifting the people of rural areas by promoting vegetable cultivation, milk, egg and meat production.

“Only an increase in GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) is not enough for overall development. It is necessary to achieve self-sufficiency in vegetables, milk, eggs and meat,” he said.

Furthermore, the central government has focused on organic cultivation in the region, said Shah.

“The Center has already constituted the National Organic Corporation Ltd to boost the sector. I urge all CMs (in the northeast) to sign agreements with NOCL for packaging, marketing and export of organic products,” he said.

The interior minister, however, said additional efforts were needed to combat drug smuggling in the region.

Earlier in the day, Shah inaugurated the 72nd plenary session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) at Prajna Bhavan here.

Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER), Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with governors, chief ministers of the eight northeastern states and senior officials, were also present at the event.

The council is the nodal agency for the economic and social development of the North Eastern region, consisting of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura .