Kohima, January 27 (DIPR): Governor of Nagaland Dr. Ashwani Kumar reiterated that peace is an essential ingredient and the most important pre-requisite for bringing prosperity to the people.
He said this on the occasion of 65th Republic Day observed at Secretariat Plaza here, while calling upon the people of Nagaland to continue in their best efforts to bring lasting peace in Nagaland. “Let us admit that the problems confronting the Nagas can only be solved by the Nagas through unity and cooperation,” he added.
Stating that India has made tremendous progress since the beginning of her Republic, Dr. Ashwani reminded that Nagaland too has contributed in equal measure. However, the governor felt that the people of Nagaland has still tremendous work ahead of them and encouraged the Naga society and the Government to adapt to the sudden developments of quick convergence of likeminded people, facilitated by mass media and digital technologies such as the mobile phones and social network platforms.
Illegal taxation
Stating the civil organizations’ stand against illegal taxation in recent times as an indication to the growing concern of people against unfair and unjust activities, Dr. Ashwani Kumar said the concerns of ordinary citizens are of great importance to the Government of Nagaland. “The Government firmly believes that if we are to progress economically all legitimate business and enterprises will need to be provided protection from threats and illegal demands and the State Government is committed to come up to the expectations of the public on this issues.”
Condemns violence
On the December 21, 2013, incident and the subsequent confrontation between the public and faction at Mukalimi, Dr. Ashwani deeply regretted and mourned the loss of lives and injured people during the incident. He also expressed anguish at the turn of events in Karbi Anglong, where violence erupted between the Karbis and Rengma Nagas. While condemning the mass killing of Karbis and Rengmas in the strongest terms, the governor informed that the State Police was seriously pursuing the case of killing of nine persons near Dimapur. He further said that the State Government has written to the Assam government for early resettlement of all the displaced persons. Dr. Ashwani appealed to the Karbis and the Rengma Nagas to show utmost restraint and to refrain from emotional and violent outbursts in order to restore normalcy in the area.
Education
Highlighting government’s initiative in education, the governor said, to promote quality education in the state, several Government Primary Schools have been upgraded to Government Middle Schools. Eleven Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas have been established in Tuensang, Mon, Longleng and Kiphire districts. In most of the schools, drinking water facilities have been provided and toilets constructed for both boys and girls. Government had also decided to upgrade 21 Government High School to Higher Secondary during 2013 -14 and deploy teachers in all government school before the next academic session.
The governor said the state government intends to improve the quality of the State Human Resources in the age group of 18-23 years through Department of Higher & Technical Education. In this regard, he said, 15 women colleges and three polytechnic are imparting technical skills to the youth to facilitate better training in areas such as Mechanical, Electrical Engineering and Management. The governor said the Department of Higher & Technical Education has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Vision University of South Korea. On the implementation of Community College Scheme sponsored by the Government of India at Government College Dimapur and St. Joseph’s College Jakhama, he said the scheme will be implemented in more colleges and polytechnics in future.
Health
In the health sector, the governor said Nagaland was adjudged the best performing state in health care among smaller category states. He expressed happiness there had been 9% decline in infant mortality rate of Nagaland as compared to the national average of 3%. He added that health of the people is an important index of development. He informed that the Government of India will soon sanction a medical college for the state.
Employment
The governor further said the Government has been taking several steps to see that the educated youth in the state are gainfully employed, especially outside government sector. He mentioned about the government’s initiative by way of organising Job Oriented Skill Development Mela in Dimapur in 2013, where the programme aimed to enhance work skill of 5000 youth by 2018.
Food security
The governor said the Food & Civil Supplies Department is continuing its service to the people through PDS by operating 74 public distribution centres (PDCs) and 238 fair price shops in both urban and villages. He said that all the village councils have been given the status of fair price shop in recent areas for distribution of food grains under BPL, APC, AAY and Annapuna. He added that with the recent enactment of the National Food Security Act by the government of India, the state government is already taking steps to implement the same in the state.
Rural development
Dr. Ashwani said that the department of Rural Development has been implementing several major development programmes for the rural people through the participation of village community. He mentioned that under MGNREG Act, 100 days of employment to every household is generated. A total of 4.03 lakh job cards have been issued till date. The governor also added around 74 lakh man-days have been generated in addition to create a number of assets. Under IAY, he said, the total number of houses to be constructed has been targeted at 10,439. Ashwani also apprised that the Government of India has launched a new programme by reconstructing the existing SGSY into a National Rural Livelihood Mission. He said that Nagaland Rural Livelihood Mission has been launched with an aim to reach out to 1.6 lakh poor households through Women SHGs. He informed Field implementation in 156 villages across 9 districts has been started.
Power
The governor informed that the power department successfully commissioned 1 MW Lang Hydro Electric Project during the current financial year. He also said that with this, the state’s total hydro power generation capacity has been increased to 27 MW. He further said that the government endeavours to take up more viable generation project in the coming years including the one at Dikhu and Tizu River. He also said that, to elevate existing bottlenecks in transmission across the state, the government has initiated a long-term improvement plan with financial assistance with the World Bank.
Agriculture
Tagging Nagaland as an agrarian state with over 71% of its population living in rural areas and solely dependent on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihood, Ashwani said that “our” effort to push up food grain production have shown result. Reminding that Nagaland was adjudged the best performing state in agriculture amongst the small state category by the India Today Group, Kumar said the government has also come out with a vision “Food for all by 2025”. The government has been focusing on organic production of pulses, tea, cardamom, Naga Chilly King and ginger etc. He expressed the need to turn attention towards marketing of these crops so as to maximize profit for the farmers.
Road
Ashwani Kumar also expressed happiness to observe that the Roads and Bridges Department has displayed new initiatives and enthusiasm in the recent months to improve the condition of the roads. He urged the people to respect the roads and look upon them as their own property. He felt that the much awaited Foot Hill Road which has commenced is likely to develop into a super highway, providing the crucial connectivity between the northern and southern parts of the state. The governor called upon the citizens of Nagaland to move forward with unity towards a more progressive, happy and prosperous Nagaland.
