Speaker to inaugurate NERCPA conference in Imphal

Imphal, June 14 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will inaugurate the 16th North East Region Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (NERCPA) Conference here on Thursday, an official statement said.

The conference will deliberate on themes such as 'North East and Look East Policy', 'Special plan for development of railways and airways for speedy economic development of North East region', and 'Setting up of a chapter of Speaker's Research Initiative (SRI) in the region'.

It will be held at the assembly premises here till June 18.

The SRI was institutionalised on July 23, 2015, to generate high-quality research inputs on strategic and topical issues, and to devise appropriate mechanism for interaction with members of both Houses of Parliament for information dissemination and capacity building. 

The SRI has conducted several meetings and workshops with stakeholders in democracy and eminent domain experts for members of Parliament during sessions, specifically on subjects listed before Parliament. 

"Recognising the importance of north-east region in the holistic development of India and at the request of Speakers of assemblies of these states, the Lok Sabha Speaker has agreed to set up an SRI chapter in the north-east to provide research inputs to the legislators," a statement from Mahajan's office said. 

It said the conference will also discuss logistics relating to setting up of the new SRI chapter.