Shillong, Nov 19 (PTI) Union Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Minister Jitendra Singh on Thursday appreciated the Meghalaya government for its decision to introduce a direct flight from here to Delhi from next month saying it would boost tourism in the state.

The Meghalaya government has inked an agreement with a private airliner to operate direct flights between Delhi and Shillong.

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"Dr Jitendra Singh noted with appreciation the decision to start from next month, direct air flight for Shillong from Delhi. He said, this was a long pending requirement and Shillong, being the original capital of the erstwhile Assam, richly deserved to have this facility," according to an official statement issued here.

Shillong was the capital of undivided Assam from 1874 to 1972 when Meghalaya was carved out of it.

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When Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma Singh called on Singh at his office in New Delhi on Thursday, the DoNER minister told him that the New Delhi-Shillong flight will travel easier and promote tourism in the Northeastern state.

Singh said that several tourist spots in the Northeastern region, including in Meghalaya, of late have become much sought after as the impact of COVID-19 pandemic was less in those areas compared many other places in the country.

Sangma also placed proposals for various schemes before the Union minister who assured the CM to look into them, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the chief minister was on Thursday conferred with an honorary degree by Sharda University at Noida in Uttar Pradesh during the institutes convocation. PTI

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)