Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called for a separate time zone for the country’s northeastern region on Wednesday.
“The signing of the agreement yesterday has laid the seed of a new united northeast,” Sarma stated on Tuesday in New Delhi, while giving a report on the signing of an MoU with Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma for the settlement of border disputes at six points of divergence.
Talking about different time zone for Northeast, the chief minister added, “Today, we have the necessity of a separate time zone for the northeast. If we take it forward by two hours, we will save on power consumption, improve our work efficiency and our health. We would be then able to synchronize with our biological clock.”
Sarma’s proposal for a distinct time zone for the northeastern region has been a long-standing demand for several years, but it has been repeatedly denied by the Centre.
In India, the sun rises at Dong in the Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh, bordering Assam, two hours before it rises at Guhar Moti in Gujarat, the country’s westernmost point. The reduction of daylight hours and excessive electricity use are the causes of the demand.
