Agartala, Jan 21 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that after Narendra Modi became Prime Minister, the mental distance between the northeastern region and the national capital Delhi has been narrowed down and the central government has committed to all round development of the region. Shah said that now in 8 states of the NE region, the BJP and the NDA allies are in power, corruption has been removed and the central funds are being properly utilised. The Union Home Minister in his virtual speech from Delhi at the function in Agartala on the occasion of the 50th statehood day celebrations, said that to make Tripura a gateway, waterway connectivity is being done with Bangladesh besides railway links are being established with the neighbouring country and these would attract more investments to the northeastern region. Referring to the settlement of the long pending Reang tribal immigrants in Tripura and signing of the peace accord with the militant outfit, Shah said that peace and ethnic harmony was ensured in the state. Appreciating the BJP led government in Tripura, Shah said that the state government has unleashed a war against misuse of drugs. He said that Tripura's per capita income has increased to Rs 1.30 lakh from Rs one lakh in three years. Shah released a Vision Document - 'Lakshya 2047' - for making Tripura self reliant in all basic sectors in the next 25 years. He said that during partition then king Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya was the first king who wanted to merge Tripura with the Indian Union. On the request of the then regent Maharani Kanchan Prabha Devi, former Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel helped the erstwhile royal dynasty by providing the air force from Assam to fight against the British rulers. Referring to the contributions of the then kings to the development of Tripura, Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has renamed the Agartala airport after Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya. He said that the Tripura kings helped the famous scientist Jagadish Chandra Bose for his scientific work and studies. Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb highlighting the state's successes in the last four years after the BJP led government came to power said that the present state government was able to invest Rs 11,000 crore for highway development, which was only Rs 1200 crore during the Left Front regime. "Over 1.25 lakh jobs in various sectors including 10,000 in government departments have been provided to the youths," the Chief Minister claimed. Deb said the Tripura government would soon recruit 500 female constables in the police while a large number of women would be recruited in the Tripura State Rifles. According to the Chief Minister involving over three lakh women the number of Women Self Help Groups has been increased to 26000 from 4000 in three years. Crimes against women have substantially reduced and the conviction rate for various crimes improved three fold in three years, he said. A postal stamp marking the 50th statehood day of Tripura was released on the occasion. /IANS