A partial view of Porba village in Phek district. (Morung Photo)
Our Correspondent
Kohima | December 28
Nagaland has been tagged as a “pioneer” in the concept of decentralized planning through the active participation of the village community.
This was stated in the Annual Administrative Report 2019-2020 of the Nagaland Rural Development Department. According to the report there are 1,285 recognized villages with 2,50,315 rural households in Nagaland.
The idea of decentralized planning took shape during the 7th plan period and the idea of grass-root level planning and development became a reality 1980-81 with the constitution of Village Development Boards (VDBs) in all the recognized villages of the state.
The VDBs are empowered in the entire process of implementation of all its rural development activities.
The report stated that the VDBs have come a long way and today the availability of the basic infrastructural requirements in the rural areas “has by and large become a reality.”
One of the major determining perspective factors in achieving the objective would be to fall-back on the experiences gained by the VDBs in the last 39 years coupled with the progressive changes in the thinking process of the villagers and their spontaneous response to accepting new methods and innovative ideas.
“The visualization of this exercise is to see that the villages of Nagaland become self-sufficient units generating and creating their own incomes,” the report stated adding that the impact of such approach is expected to improve not only the living standards of the rural people but also the economic status of the state in general, as rural areas and its population comprises nearly 71.14% (As per SECC 2011) of the state’s total population.
The Department of Rural Development is involved in the developmental activities of the rural areas through implementation of various employment generation and infrastructural development programmes aimed at improving the living conditions of the rural poor through the grass-root level organization.
The report stated that innovative approaches to involve the VDBs in the process of credit related Micro- Financial Intermediaries Activity is now firmly rooted.
“Almost all the VDBs will now be involved as Micro-Financing Intermediaries. This will help them for development activities in the rural areas to improve the rural economy,” the report stated.
Further, the report informed that the department with its integrated policy of overall development of the rural areas has been involving in multi-disciplinary activities especially in the sphere of agriculture and allied activities, roads, school building etc.
