Nagaland: CSR ambulances for state-run hospitals

Thanamir gets apple processing unit

Morung Express News 
Dimapur | October 9

Nagaland Governor Nand Kishore Yadav, on October 9, flagged off four Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances and virtually inaugurated an Apple Cider Vinegar processing unit set up at Thanamir village in Kiphire district. 

The initiatives were launched at the Integrated Business Hub & Innovation Centre (IBH & IC) in Dimapur through a partnership between the Investment & Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), with the latter sponsoring the ambulances under its Corporate Social Responsibility programme. 

According to IDAN Additional Secretary Vineet Kumar, the IOCL provided financial assistance of Rs 58.08 lakh under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme to procure the four ambulances. The vehicles have been allocated to Community Health Centres in Dhansiripar, Medziphema, and Niuland, and a Primary Health Centre in Chümoukedima. The Apple Cider Vinegar unit at Thanamir was established under the Chief Minister’s Innovative Programme with a sanctioned amount of Rs 50 lakh. The facility includes a 5-metric-tonne grid-connected cold storage unit. He insisted that implementing agencies must now ensure the operation and maintenance of the asset. 

In his address, Governor Yadav said that the state’s mountainous terrain and dispersed settlements make timely medical access difficult during emergencies. “In such circumstances, an ambulance is much more than a means of transportation. It is a critical link between a patient and a healthcare facility,” he said.

Touching on the Thanamir unit, the Governor said Eastern Nagaland holds farming capacity that must be supported through processing, storage, and market linkages rather than being viewed solely through the prism of its developmental deficits. He insisted that local farmers must be enabled to participate in the entire value chain instead of selling only raw produce.

IDAN Chairman Abu Metha said the processing plant would support apple growers in Thanamir, a border village near Myanmar where produce previously rotted on the ground due to poor connectivity and market access. He said that the unit may be small, but it marks a starting point for food processing in remote pockets. Pointing to the commercial importance of the Dimapur, Chümoukedima, and Niuland belt, Metha stated that its connectivity to the Trans-Asian Highway network offers economic trade access toward ASEAN markets, calling on local youth and entrepreneurs to remain competitive in national and regional trade.

Metha added that the IOCL is also planning capital investments exceeding Rs 300 crore to upgrade its operational infrastructure within the state.

As per the IOCL Executive Director and State Head Nitin Bhatnagar, the corporation has committed Rs 3.82 crore across Nagaland over the past 10 financial years in sectors covering health, education, and rural infrastructure. He mentioned that the IOCL recently installed 40 solar street lights in Padampukhuri village at a cost of Rs16 lakh, and handed over two classrooms at Government Primary School, Kevijau, in Dimapur built for Rs 11.32 lakh. Bhatnagar also cited earlier medical aid, including Rs 1.59 crore worth of hospital equipment in Shamator, Tseminyu, and Niuland, 11 hemodialysis machines worth Rs 77.31 lakh in Mon, Peren, and Kiphire, and over Rs 60 lakh for handloom equipment to support local women weavers.