North Eastern Council (NEC) was constituted as a statutory advisory body under the NEC Act 1971 (84 of 1971) and came into being on the 7th November, 1972 at Shillong. During its inauguration, the then Hon'ble Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi had announced, “I should like to assure you that the suggestions made by the Council and the projects drawn up by it will be considered with particular attention by the Planning commission and also the various Ministries of the Government of India. I can assure you that any worthwhile idea that it might propose as being of tangible benefit to the region will not suffer for want of funds.”