The Centre on Monday informed Parliament that since 2014 it has provided ample employment opportunities to the youth of the northeastern region, with Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy saying that they now have computers in their hands in place of guns, which was the case before 2014, when the erstwhile UPA regime was in power.

Replying to a series of questions by Congress MPs from the northeast Vincent Pala and Pradyut Bordoloi on employment opportunities for the youth of the region and development works undertaken there during Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Reddy said that contrary to the situation which prevailed in the region before the BJP-led NDA government came to power at the Centre on 2014, when insurgency and curfews were the norm, now crores of rupees have been spent for the region's development and even need-based employment has been generated.

Congress MP Pala while asking the question, sought to know why the government was giving "lip service" in the name of claiming development of the Northeast.

To this, Reddy listed various schemes related to infrastructure development undertaken for the region and the amount of money spent in the past eight years for the purpose.

He even compared the quantum of funds spent on the region's development by the NDA government since 2014 and those spent by the erstwhile regimes prior to 2014.

"Now the youth of the region has computers in their hands, unlike earlier, when they had guns in their hands," Reddy said while pointing to Opposition benches.

At this, Opposition Congress leaders raised objections to his comments.

Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was also present in the House.

When Pala sought to know about the region-based employment generation schemes initiated by the Centre and Bordoloi raised the issue of ill treatment of the region's youths in various parts of the country despite their expertise in various vocations, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman intervened and informed that prior to the previous budget, she had met all the Finance Ministers of the northeast and sought details about the kind of initiatives needed for the region.

She listed a few schemes started by the Centre, which are aimed at providing region-based employment opportunities to the people of the area.