The North Eastern Council (NEC) came into being by an Act of Parliament, the North Eastern Council Act, 1971 to act as an advisory body in respect of socio-economic development and balanced development of the North Eastern Areas consisting of the present States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura. The NEC started functioning in the year 1972.