The Centre has decided to set up a regional office of the National Tiger Conservation Authority at Guwahati in Assam. This was disclosed by the Union Environment and Forest Minister Mr. Jairam Ramesh in a letter written to the State Chief Minister Mr. Tarun Gogoi. The Regional office would be headed by an Inspector General of Forest and assisted by Assistant Inspector General of Forests. It will have the jurisdiction over six States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand with coverage of ten tiger reserves. Mr. Ramesh mentioned that the step has been taken as part of the Government’s plan to decentralize the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NCTA) for closely monitoring the conservation activities.