Parliament Question: NESIDS-OTRI

Government of India Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. †5466 To be answered on Wednesday, March 25, 2026/Chaitra 04, 1948 (Saka) QUESTION NESIDS-OTRI †5466. Shri Ravindra Shukla Alias Ravi Kishan:

Will the Minister of DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EASTERN REGION be pleased

to state:

(a) the manner in which the completion of the Shillong-Tura road has succeeded in reducing the travel time from twelve hours to six hours;

(b) the current status of the Rs. 12 crore heliport project at Thenzawl in Mizoram under the North-East Special Infrastructure Development scheme and Other Than Road Infrastructure (NESIDS-Development Scheme OTRI) component;

(c) whether the Government has successfully integrated Artificial Intelligence technology in all the Gram Panchayats of Tripura by the year 2026 and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) the manner in which the Field Technical Support Unit (FTSU) has improved physical monitoring of road projects and ensuring timely completion thereof? ANSWER The Minister of State of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region [Dr. Sukanta Majumdar]

(a) The improvement and widening of the Shillong–Nongstoin–Tura Road corridor in the State of Meghalaya has significantly reduced travel time by upgrading the existing sub-standard stretches into a two-lane carriageway with paved shoulders along sections of NH-106 and NH-127B. Earlier, the corridor had narrow carriageways, sharp curves, steep gradients, and narrow bridges, which caused frequent congestion and slow vehicular movement. With the widening of the road and improvement in geometric design, vehicles can now move smoothly in both directions, thereby increasing the average travel speed.(b) The project “Development of Heliports and Helipads in Thenzawl, Mizoram” under the North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme - Other than Roads Infrastructure (NESIDS-OTRI) was sanctioned on 13.10.2025 at a cost of Rs. 12.00 crore. The State Government of Mizoram has floated the tender in respect of the said project for selection of the executing agency.

(c) The Ministry of Panchayati Raj launched SabhaSaar, an AI-enabled voice-to-text meeting summarization tool, on 14th August, 2025. The SabhaSaar platform enables structured capture and summarization of Gram Sabha proceedings and supports monitoring of key parameters such as frequency/ type of Gram Sabha meetings and participation. SabhaSaar has been made available to all States/UTs, inter-alia including Tripura, and Gram Panchayats are progressively adopting it for routine Gram Sabha and Panchayat meetings.

As part of the pilot implementation, all 1,194 Gram Panchayats of Tripura were encouraged to use the tool for the Special Gram Sabhas on 15th August 2025, and 1,047 Gram Panchayats successfully used SabhaSaar on that day.

(d) The MDoNER has taken several steps to ensure monitoring and timely completion of the projects sanctioned by the Ministry in NER. The MDoNER has engaged Field Level Technical Support Unit (FTSU) in all 8 NER States to interact with State Planning Departments and also the project implementing agencies, to maintain and update database of the MDoNER projects, inter-alia, including road projects, to submit regular progress reports and provide feedback to MDoNER about the execution of projects. The FTSUs also carry out the field inspection of projects sanctioned under the Schemes of MDoNER, inter-alia, including road projects.

In addition, the projects are periodically monitored and inspected by the officials of MDoNER and North Eastern Council (NEC). Regular review meetings are conducted by the Ministry with the State Governments of NE Region to review the progress of implementation of projects. The Project Quality Monitors/Third PartyTechnical Inspection Agencies (PQM/TPTI) have been introduced to strengthen the monitoring mechanism of the MDoNER.

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