When was the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region established?

Concept

Within the Government of India, an administrative unit can exist either as a Department (a sub-unit, usually under another ministry or as a standalone department) or as a full-fledged Ministry headed by a Cabinet/State Minister. A Department can later be elevated to Ministry status. So the year a Department is created and the year it becomes a Ministry are distinct events.

Application

For development of the North Eastern Region, the timeline has two distinct milestones:

• September 2001 - the Department of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) was created as a separate department.

• May 2004 - the department was accorded the status of a full-fledged Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M-DoNER).

The question asks specifically when the MINISTRY was established. The Ministry came into being in 2004, when the existing department was upgraded to ministry status.

Cross-check

The other years map to different facts: 2001 is when the Department (not the Ministry) was created, while 1999 and 2006 do not correspond to either milestone in the DoNER timeline. Hence 2004 is the year the Ministry was established.