DIMAPUR, JULY 22 (MExN): The Eastern Naga Students’ Federation (ENSF) today voiced out against what it termed was “biased” distribution of funds when it comes to the Eastern Naga areas of the State.
A press release from the ENSF said that there has been an infinite disparity in orchestrating/allocating the shares despite the constitutional rights enshrined in Article 371 (2) (b) of the Indian Constitution. The article states that, “Where any money that is provided by the Government of India to the Government of Nagaland to meet the requirement of the state of Nagaland as a whole, the Governor shall in his discretion arrange for an equitable allocation of that money between Tuensang district and the rest of the state.”
“The very provision which was to cater and mitigate with the best ulterior motive to bring about long-lasting peace, prosperity and development in the state was never maintained in letter and spirit by Nagaland state machineries,” the ENSF stated.
To stress their point, the ENSF mentioned some “micro evident facts and figures which is a classic example, in which manner the eastern areas and people are being deprived at large.”
It said that under the PMJVK, Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Eastern Naga areas were allocated “arguably with just Rs 11.95 cr out of Rs 279.72 cr.”
It further revealed that in the list of priority projects under North-Eastern Council (NEC) 2022-23, out of 30 projects under the state, an estimated cost of (normal Rs 58.11 cr, projection Rs 120 cr), only a lone project, at an estimated cost of Rs 3.50 cr was earmarked for Eastern Nagaland.
Further, it noted that from the Ministry Of Tribal Affairs (SCA to TSS Division) funds under special assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme during 2020-21(creation for capital asset-non recurring), out of total amounting Rs 9,09,30,000 for 17 projects, only Rs 1.5 cr was allocated for Eastern Nagaland.”
The ENSF said that such “hoodwink and biased” attitude was “maintained since the inception of the state; the intensity of suppression and deprivation that the denizens of Eastern Nagaland had faced since time immemorial, and the excruciating pains inflicted upon are ineffable despite state machineries being very much cognizant of the horrendous conditions of the area.”
The federation objected to the “biased distribution of funds as corroborated in the recent selection process.” It demanded that all the proposed/approved projects under existing departments of Nagaland be reviewed and allocated with equity, in the larger interest of the Nagas. “The trend of inclining towards a section of people/areas in the process of development will only jeopardize the very fabric of Naga integration in the near future,” it said.
The ENSF added that the attitude maintained by today’s Nagaland State Government is “completely a mockery to the preamble of the constitution as the very gesture jeopardizes the idea of Fraternity, Equality and Justice.”
It expressed concern that in the midst of today’s contemporary society flourishing with rapid globalization with intense advancement in various activities of lives, “the land of Eastern Nagaland remained a remote barren land with socially and economically backward despite the surplus inbound of capital invested by the Central Government in order to develop the Eastern region.”
“There is no plausible sign of development because the government of today, despite being apprehensive, has never shown keen interest to address the needs of the people and bid to felicitate the needs despite persistent hues and cries over the issues now and then. The Eastern most region of Nagaland state today hems in with most deplorable road condition, lack of human resource developments and infrastructure which had potentially contributed towards the economic and social backwardness of the region,” the ENSF maintained.
It blamed the “clandestine and arbitrary motives” of the government machineries for “orchestrating and allocating the schemes and funds for development of the state vis-à-vis the development projects as a whole.”
The federation noted that various departments in Nagaland are engulfed with numerous projected schemes, programmes and developmental projects to uplift the whole of Nagaland state socially, economically and developmentally. However, it stated that there has been a lot of disparity in implementing the same.
“The question here is who is solely responsible for disproportional discrepancies in developmental activities?” the ENSF questioned.
