Parliamentary Secretary for Rural Development Pangnyu Phom seen here at his office chamber on Monday
KOHIMA, NOVEMBER 14 (DIPR): Parliamentary Secretary for RD and REPA, Pangnyu Phom said that the department of Rural development is the only department that interacts directly with the villages, and observed that if villagers are properly educated on the intention/reality of the various flagship programmes of the Government of India, and uplift them, the economy of the country and the state would prosper.
Interacting with media persons in his official chamber on the 14th of November 2011, Pangyu Phom while highlighting on the Backward Regions Grants Fund (BRGF) said that RD department has taken up mostly housing schemes under the programme. “Before this scheme was introduced there were so many thatched houses especially in Eastern Nagaland, but after introduction of this scheme, there is cent percent housing coverage,” he informed. He also said that funds under BRGF are allocated to VBBs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on the basis of rural and urban population. The fund is allocated to the VDBs based on tax-paying households of the BRGF districts which cover Mon, Tuensang, Wokha, Kiphire and Longleng districts.
With regard to Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) Pangyu disclosed that Nagaland is one of the most successful state in the country in implementing the scheme in the country and has also received the best award under IAY. He further informed that IAY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for providing housing to BPL households in the rural areas and said that in the next few years the department is contemplating to declare Nagaland as cent percent housing complete state.
On the much talked about Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) Phom made it specifically clear that the scheme is purely for villagers who have obtain registered job cards. Re-iterating that MGNREGS has been introduced for upliftment of the rural economy, Phom regretted that it has been politicized in many states and viewed that there should be no political interference. To enhance the livelihood security of the rural households, the Government of India has enhanced the wages from Rs.100/- to Rs.118/- per day per head wef 1st Jan.2011, with respect to Nagaland, he said. Further, he said that various developmental activities especially in the road sector is visible after implementation of MGNREGS, where Nagaland has been dubbed as the best state in terms of implementation and generation of man days.
Commissioner & Secretary RD, V.Sakhrie who was also present, opined that MGNGEGS implemented by the Rural Development department came at the nick of time, when development was the need of the hour in the rural areas. Our society has strong social community based set up and MGNREGS scheme fits well with our community/tradition and if implemented properly, it can do miracles for Nagaland, he maintained. Such community based set up is a new culture for many states but we are lucky as it is already inbuilt in the Naga society, he added. On constitution of Ombudsmen in the State, Sakhrie said that Nagaland was the best state for constituting Ombudsmen after Kerela where members were drawn from different fields. In all the 11 districts Ombudsmen are in place, he added.
Interacting with media persons in his official chamber on the 14th of November 2011, Pangyu Phom while highlighting on the Backward Regions Grants Fund (BRGF) said that RD department has taken up mostly housing schemes under the programme. “Before this scheme was introduced there were so many thatched houses especially in Eastern Nagaland, but after introduction of this scheme, there is cent percent housing coverage,” he informed. He also said that funds under BRGF are allocated to VBBs and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) on the basis of rural and urban population. The fund is allocated to the VDBs based on tax-paying households of the BRGF districts which cover Mon, Tuensang, Wokha, Kiphire and Longleng districts.
With regard to Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) Pangyu disclosed that Nagaland is one of the most successful state in the country in implementing the scheme in the country and has also received the best award under IAY. He further informed that IAY is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for providing housing to BPL households in the rural areas and said that in the next few years the department is contemplating to declare Nagaland as cent percent housing complete state.
On the much talked about Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) Phom made it specifically clear that the scheme is purely for villagers who have obtain registered job cards. Re-iterating that MGNREGS has been introduced for upliftment of the rural economy, Phom regretted that it has been politicized in many states and viewed that there should be no political interference. To enhance the livelihood security of the rural households, the Government of India has enhanced the wages from Rs.100/- to Rs.118/- per day per head wef 1st Jan.2011, with respect to Nagaland, he said. Further, he said that various developmental activities especially in the road sector is visible after implementation of MGNREGS, where Nagaland has been dubbed as the best state in terms of implementation and generation of man days.
Commissioner & Secretary RD, V.Sakhrie who was also present, opined that MGNGEGS implemented by the Rural Development department came at the nick of time, when development was the need of the hour in the rural areas. Our society has strong social community based set up and MGNREGS scheme fits well with our community/tradition and if implemented properly, it can do miracles for Nagaland, he maintained. Such community based set up is a new culture for many states but we are lucky as it is already inbuilt in the Naga society, he added. On constitution of Ombudsmen in the State, Sakhrie said that Nagaland was the best state for constituting Ombudsmen after Kerela where members were drawn from different fields. In all the 11 districts Ombudsmen are in place, he added.
