IMPHAL, November 24: The state government has received an official confirmation from the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the Prime Minister’s visit to the state to inaugurate the Capitol project, Chingmeirong and the City Convention Centre, Palace gate on December 3, a reliable source informed.
This will be Manmohan Singh’s third visit to the state as the country’s Prime Minister.
SPF spokesperson and IFCD minister N Biren has also informed media persons after a late evening ministerial meeting that the Prime Minister accompanied by AICC president Sonia Gandhi is likely to arrive in the state on December 3.
He further informed that a meeting of state ministers was held this late evening at the Chief Minister’s bungalow.
A reliable source has also added that though various speculations regarding the visit of the Prime Minister have been doing the rounds in the state, there had been no confirmation from the PMO till date; however the state has received an official confirmation today.
The Capitol Project and the City Convention Centre being major projects taken up under the Prime Minister’s Package, the inauguration by the Prime Minister will be a major achievement for the Congress led SPF state government, the source further informed.
The PMO has confirmed the visit only after it was assured about the timely completion of the two projects by the state government and after a thorough review of the completion of the projects by a central Monitoring Committee headed by a Union cabinet secretary, informed the source.
The PMO has further instructed the state government to complete the other projects taken up under the PM package before the proposed visit of the Prime Minister.
In the meantime, a state head of departments team held a video conference with a committee of Union secretaries to review the progress of various projects undertaken in the state under the PM package, informed the source.
The state officials who assembled at the office chamber of the state chief secretary for the video conferencing this evening, were instructed to communicate the Detailed Progress Reports of the various projects undertaken by their respective departments under the PM Package, the source further informed.
The committee of Union secretaries showed their satisfaction over the progress of the projects; however the state department heads were also instructed to complete the various projects at the earliest.
It may be added that the video conferencing was held due to the failure of a state ministerial team to attend a meeting with the committee of Union secretaries, which was proposed to be held yesterday at New Delhi, the source added.