Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Saturday rued that Arunachal Pradesh did not receive proper hand-holding from the Central government ever since the time it was granted statehood. "Arunachal should develop at their own pace safeguards to ensure their well-being," he said at the first-ever joint conference of Anganwadi and ASHA workers held in Tawang, bordering China.

In a statement, Khandu lamented that Arunachal did not have proper hand-holding from the Indian government since its journey from North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) to statehood, resulting in deteriorated work culture and development disparity in the state. The Chief Minister noted that time has come for Arunachal Pradesh to remodel, rethink and reshape its development discourse with proper planning and policy reforms to an audience of more than 500 Anganwadi and ASHA workers that had gathered from various districts.