AGARTALA, July 13 (TIWN): Chief Minister Manik Sarkar claimed that the attitude of Union Government in the last 28 years of independence has not been very encouraging and as a result this has been palpable letdown on the part of central government to support northeastern states to fully exploit its rich natural resources.Sarkar was addressing his key note during the meeting with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at Guwahati convened recently.“The immense growth potential of northeastern states by economic integration using Look East (Act East) Policy has not yielded tangible results, as a result the people have been deprived of fruits in progress and growth,” Sarkar added.He said that NE region has been facing continuous threat and challenges from various insurgent groups. “The primary reason for sustenance of insurgency in NE states is underdevelopment and backwardness,” said Sarkar. Tripura Chief Minister urged the Centre to persuade Bangladesh to destroy all terrorist hideouts on their soil, freeze bank accounts of top leaders, arrest the militants and hand over them to India.He said that incidents like recent attacks on Army in Manipur not only created a feeling of insecurity among people, they also had adverse impact on developmental activities and overall perception about the region.

He also said that keeping in view the steady improvement in security scenario, the state government has withdrawn the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) with effect from May 27, 2015 by which twenty four police stations were earlier declared fully disturbed and six police stations partly disturbed under the act.

“As such no police station is presently declared disturbed in the state here,” sarkar also added.

The repeal of the Act, which has been in force in the State since February 1997, came less than a month after the election to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council.

The extremists’ related incidents had comparatively decreased since the past five years. During the year 2015 a total of 339 incidents took place, according to the government’s record.

Situated along the Indo-Bangladesh border area, between West Tripura and Khowai Districts, Kambhukcherra Village was once severely affected by militancy.

With the return of peace, the remote tribal village has been witnessing rapid development.

A prolonged period of insurgency had hindered the growth and progress of the region. However, with the decline of insurgency in states like Tripura, socio-economic development has gained momentum. And the people are now hopeful for a better future.