Union Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Dr Jitendra Singh launched “Hill Area Development Programme” (HADP) for Northeast in Imphal (Manipur).
The hilly areas of Manipur, Tripura and Assam have a distinct geo-physical entity and are lagging in socio-economic development. As a result of peculiar topography there is a wide gap between the hill and valley districts in terms of infrastructure, quality of roads, health and education etc. The Hill Development Programme is inspired with a serious research and deliberation of all these factors.
As far as State of Manipur is concerned, the hill areas are less developed compared to the plain areas. Out of 80 districts of Northeast, 3 districts of hilly areas, which ranked lowest in the composite district infrastructure index, belonged to Manipur and these were namely, Tamenglong, Chandel and Churachandpur.
The Hill Area Development Programme is aimed at giving a focused attention to the lesser developed hilly areas and will be initiated on a pilot basis in the hilly districts of Manipur.