Tripura governor Ramesh Bais, in his debut speech on the first day of the Assembly, thanked the Centre for the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and passing of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act by the Parliament to make Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of the country.

“I would like to thank the Union government for the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A and passing of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act by the Parliament to make Jammu and Kashmir as an integral part of the country in reality, thereby fulfilling the dream of ‘Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan and Ek Pradhan’,” Bais said in his debut speech on Friday morning.

He urged everyone to join him in welcoming the historic judgment by the Supreme Court to solve the long-standing dispute of the Ram Janmabhoomi.

“Under the leadership of our beloved Prime Minister Narendra Modiji the country witnessed unprecedented welfare measures through a slew of schemes like Ayushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, Digital India and Pradhan Mantri Jandhan Yojana. My government would like to thank Prime Minister having signed the bilateral documents with Bangladesh for facilitating economic and infrastructure development of Tripura through laying down the standard operating procedure on the use of Chittagong and Mongla Ports in Bangladesh for movement of goods,” he said.

He said transparency has been ensured by digitalising the public distribution system resulting in the cancellation of 62,000 fake ration cards, which saved Rs 63 crore for Tripura.

Bais announced that the Union ministry of commerce has sanctioned one special economic zone (SEZ) at Sabroom where different types of industries could be established in both manufacturing and the service sector with scope of investment of many hundreds of crores with the direct and indirect benefit of employment to thousands of families.

He said air connectivity has significantly improved in the state and railway connectivity has improved vastly.

“I am sure that with all these endeavours the state is moving towards becoming a model state in the real sense of the term. Our mantra of governance remains the principle of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikash and Sabka Viswas’. Through our collective efforts, the state would be able to make rapid progress,” the governor said.

He said the number of tourists in Tripura has increased remarkably and said his government is playing an important role for the development of the rural economy.

“The State Higher Education Council Act, 2019, has been passed and rules have been framed for proper planning and the development of higher education. Significant steps have been taken for the upgrade of power infrastructure in the state,” he said.

He added that the crimes against women per lakh of women population have come down and conviction in the number of cases has also registered an increase.

Bais said the state government has received an additional fund of Rs 2,158.70 crore sanctioned by the Centre after the formation of Niti Aayog for the development of the state.