KOHIMA, MAY 24 (NEPS): Advisor for FCS, NSDMA, LMCP, Pukhayi said the present crisis due to the nationwide lockdown to combat the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was an ‘eye-opener’ for all Nagas.
“We have to realize now that we have to go for farming and then we can have self-reliance depending on us only and not others,” he told NEPS here on Sunday.
The Advisor said the current development was a “chapter for the Nagas to change their mindsets to go for farming.” Only then could they become self-reliant and they should now give up the laziness and for easy money, he said.
He reminded how his villager leaders told him when he visited his constituency that he should not give them even one kilo of rice during the lockdown. “Please don’t bring even a kilo of rice to our village because our villagers do not go to the field and it is not good for us,” the village leaders told him.
Pukhayi lauded the decision of the village leaders and expressed the hope that the present crisis would be an ‘eye-opener’ for the Nagas to evolve for self-reliance.
The Advisor also said essential commodities had been reaching all districts and the department already kept rice in all the district godowns.
He said the government had purchased 38,000 metric tons of rice and already sent them to all the districts. He further said the department had been working to ensure that every essential commodity reaches all districts during the nationwide lockdown.
Pukhayi meanwhile questioned how middle class Nagas can also apply for ration cards in the State.
He also disclosed that many legislators in the state have approached him for rice to be distributed during the lockdown period. In this, he stated: “It is not free and we are giving 50% less than the market price. We have given rice to many legislators including Leader of Opposition,” he added
He further observed that “there is a humanitarian crisis all over the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“This is prayer time and everyone is equal and I will never indulge in injustice.”
